Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara wrapped up a tour to support Saudi Arabia and Egypt in the face of US pressure over Iraq, human rights and post-September 11 charges of terrorism. Shara met Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Wednesday in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Thursday in the Mediterranan town of Marsa Matruh.

Official reports on the talks were vague, but a Syrian spokesperson had said from Damascus that Shara would seek "a unified position" in the face of the US pressure.

Egypt's official news agency MENA said Shara discussed with Mubarak the efforts deployed to halt "the Israeli aggressions against the Palestinians" and to seek a resumption of the peace process.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher and Shara also discussed "the developments regarding Iraq," in a meeting held late Wednesday, after the Syrian official arrived here from Saudi Arabia, Cairo newspaper Al-Ahram reported.

Saudi official SPA news agency said Shara conveyed to Prince Abdullah, the kingdom's de facto ruler, a message from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Saudi Arabia and Egypt, long-time allies of the United States, have recently been stung by criticism from within the superpower.

The White House confirmed last week that US President George W. Bush had opposed new aid to Egypt to protest against the jailing for seven years of prominent human rights activist and US-Egyptian national Saad Eddin Ibrahim.

Meanwhile, a multi-trillion-dollar lawsuit has been brought in the United States by more than 600 relatives of victims of the September 11 attacks against three Saudi princes and several Saudi and Arab Gulf banks accused of bankrolling terror mastermind Osama bin Laden's network.

Syria has grown increasingly frustrated with US policy on the Middle East, after being excluded from international consultations on the region in July, which have been confined to Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Damascus was also angered by US President George W. Bush's failure in a key Middle east policy speech in June to make any reference to the Golan Heights, a Syrian territory that Israel seized in the 1967 Middle East war.

Cairo, Riyadh and Damascus furthermore share a common Arab stance rejecting any US military intervention to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Egyptian Ambassador to the United States Nabeel Fahmi said his country "has already conveyed to the United States its opposition" to a US strike on Iraq.

"The United States has promised to consult with its friends in the region before taking any measure against Iraq," he added in an interview with Egyptian television, published in Thursday's Al-Ahram.

Fahmi was confident that the dispute over Saad Eddin Ibrahim "will not affect the substance of US-Egyptian relations."
He hinted that the United States needed Egypt to implement its policy in the region and that the pressure exerted over Ibrahim's case will backfire.

"Egypt is able to take tough positions on regional issues ... The US position on this case will not be productive," he said.
However, the Washington Post on Wednesday reported that the Bush administration intended to unveil next month a 25 million-dollar program "to promote democracy in the Middle East."

The drive combines "the president's ambitious rhetoric -- and moves such as last week's rebuke of Egypt's human rights performance -- with dollars meant to improve political institutions and public debate in often repressive societies," it added, quoting US officials

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Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak