Powell told BBC One's Breakfast with Frost program that Syria should not help Iraqi officials who should be brought to justice in their own country.

"We think it would be very unwise, if Syria suddenly becomes a haven for all these people who should be brought to justice, who are trying to get out of Baghdad," he said.

"Syria has been a concern for a long period of time," Powell said. "We are concerned that materials have flowed through Syria to the Iraqi regime over the years."

"We are making this point clearly and in a very direct manner to the Syrians," he said, adding that his country hoped the Syrians would respond accordingly.

The United States has been alleging that Damascus was a state sponsor of "terrorism" and a supplier of military supplies to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's regime, an accusation Syria has rejected.

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has already warned Syria not to allow equipment to go across its boundaries destined for parts of Saddam's regime, and US President George W. Bush on Friday urged Syria to close its border with Iraq to prevent followers of Saddam crossing into Syria and asked it to turn over any who might already have taken refuge in the country.

Powell on Sunday also argued that ending this ongoing war did not depend on finding Saddam dead or alive.

"We would like to know exactly what happened to Saddam Hussein, but he is no longer in charge of anything," Powell said, "We will have closure with or without Saddam Hussein."

On post-war Iraq, Powell said the United States has not anointed anyone to be the future leader of Iraq or to be the leader of the interim Iraqi authority, trying to dispel fears that Washington would appoint a puppet leadership for the country.

"We believe very strongly that the Iraqi people and the representatives of the Iraqi people should do that. We are not in the business of installing the next president of Iraq," Powell said.

Earlier reports said a US envoy was expected to meet with Iraqi opposition leaders Tuesday in the Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, beginning the first step toward forming a government that would take power following an interim period of US administration.

Some Iraqi opposition groups fear the meeting would be used to appoint a puppet leadership with close ties to Washington.

(Xinhua News Agency April 13, 2003)