Syria Rejects Charges on Lax Iraq Border

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: September 14, 2005

Filed at 8:50 a.m. ET

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) -- Syria challenged Washington on Wednesday to provide evidence of its claims that Damascus has failed to stop anti-American militants from sneaking into Iraq, rejecting accusations of lax border control.

On Tuesday, President Bush said he was trying to gather allies in a diplomatic effort to stop Syria from blocking the emergence of democracy in the Middle East.

A day earlier, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, said Washington was running out of patience with Syria's continuing role in Iraq's violence. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari on Monday also warned that Syria was playing a ''dangerous game'' in allowing insurgents to penetrate Iraq.