Rice asks Syria to take ME changes seriously

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice holds a press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh yesterday. Rice arrived yesterday in Egypt and went straight into talks with President Hosni Mubarak during which she asked him for more democratic reforms. PHOTO: AFP

Rice made her comments in a keynote speech of a whirlwind tour of the Middle East aimed at boosting Washington's declared policies of promoting peace and stability in the volatile region.

"We are supporting the democratic aspirations of all people," Rice told an attendance of around 600 at the American University in Cairo.

"Throughout the Middle East, the fear of free choices can no longer justify the denial of liberty," she said. "It is time to abandon the excuses that are made to avoid the hard work of democracy."

Syria should not ignore regional changes, Rice warned yesterday on the Egyptian leg of a tour aimed at promoting democratic reforms in the Middle East.

"The United States has been very clear that our concerns are with Syria's behaviour. We need a Syria that takes seriously the changes that are happening here in the region," she said.

Rice was speaking in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit.

On Saturday and Sunday, Rice held talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials on this summer's planned Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and is due to attend a conference on Iraq Tuesday in Brussels.

"Syria needs to stop its support for rejectionists in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," Rice said, referring to the Palestinian radical group Islamic Jihad which has its headquarters in Damascus.

"Syria needs to control its border and make sure that its territory is not being used for insurgents in Iraq," she also stressed.

Meanwhile, Rice delivered a strong message for more regional reforms after talks with Egyptian leaders yesterday and warned them that the world was expecting free and fair elections in September.

"I discussed preparations for the elections with the president," Rice said during a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit, in reference to presidential elections scheduled for September.