UNITED NATIONS, Sept 22 (AFP) - The United States believes Syria is now willing to cooperate with Iraqi authorities and the US-led coalition on patrolling the Syria-Iraq border, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said here Wednesday.
"I hope that the Syrians now understand the need for all of us to do as much we can in a tripartite manner -- Syria, the Iraqi interim government and the coalition -- to stop illicit, improper traffic across that border," he said.
"It's a tough military mission and a tough political mission, but I sense a new attitude from the Syrians, but of course, it all depends on actions, not just attitudes," Powell told reporters.
A senior State Department official later allowed that Damascus had made similar promises to Washington in the past that had gone unfulfilled but said there were indications Syria would follow through.
"We've seen a little more than words this time, but not enough yet to draw conclusions," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity. "We're very much in a 'we'll see' kind of mode now."
Powell's comments came after he met for a half hour with Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, amid signs of a possible thaw in strained relations between the countries.
He said his conversation with Shara was "a good, open, candid" and "rather positive discussion" that focused on a range of US concerns about Syrian policy on Iraq, Lebanon and its support for alleged terrorist groups.
Powell described as "positive" Syria's recent redeployment of troops from bases south of Beirut but said the move did not go far enough in meeting UN Security Council demands for foreign interference in Lebanon to end.
"We've noted the redeployment of some Syrian troops," he said. "I think this is a positive step and we took note of it, but, of course, the resolution ... calls on the Syrians to do more and we had a good discussion of that."
Shara declined to discuss the substance of the talks but told reporters as he left that he had had "a good meeting" with Powell.
Ahead of the discussion, a Syrian official said military cooperation would be on Shara and Powell's agenda. "Oh definitely, military cooperation is in," the official said.
Wednesday's discussion took place as a US delegation prepares to travel to Damascus later this month to hash out the details of a Syrian agreement in principle to joint patrols of the Iraqi border.
That agreement was sealed earlier this month when the top US diplomat for the Middle East, William Burns, and other senior US officials met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus to look at ways to stem rising violence in Iraq.
Washington has accused Damascus of not doing enough to prevent militants infiltrating across the frontier to join the insurgency against US-led troops and earlier this year adopted legislation providing for new sanctions to be imposed on Syria.
But on Sunday, Time magazine reported that Assad had expressed interest in cooperation with US military plans to secure the Iraqi-Syrian border.
Assad is "interested in cooperating" with military proposals under study by the US Central Command, the magazine said, adding that "joint border patrols" involving US and Syrian troops "cannot be ruled out."
Powell said he expected Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi to visit Syria in the near future to further press the case for Assad's cooperation.