Syria, Iraq and US in talks on securing border: Powell

WASHINGTON, Sept 26 (AFP) - Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday that tripartite talks were underway on securing the Iraqi-Syrian border, bringing together the United States and the two neighbors, and said that Damascus had taken a "positive" approach in addressing US concerns.
"We believe Syria can do more, and I had conversations earlier this week with the Syrian foreign minister, and Syria is prepared to enter into discussions with the Iraqi interim government and with coalition forces," Powell told CNN television.
"That is happening, and we're calling them tripartite talks on the border. It's a very porous border. It's not an easy border to control."
"But with additional technical equipment put in place and with cooperation between the sides, we can do a better job," he said.
"The conversations I had with the Syrians this week did not clear up all the outstanding issues that we have with the Syrians, but I found it to be more positive than the earlier conversations."
Powell met Wednesday with Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara on the sidelines of the annual session of the UN General Assembly, where he said Syria had adopted a "helpful" attitude in addressing US concerns about patrolling its border with Iraq and meeting a UN call to withdraw troops from Lebanon.