"Syria expects Egypt to use its good offices with Washington to help defuse the tension," a diplomatic source said.

Earlier, US Congressman Darrell Issa told Reuters after a two-hour meeting with Assad in Damascus that Syria wanted a positive dialogue with the United States.

"We have many positive messages to Washington," said Issa. "Assad went out of his way in being positive."

US charges that Syria may be developing chemical weapons and harboring members of Saddam Hussein's ousted Iraqi administration has raised fears in the Arab world that Damascus could be a future US target.

Syria -- which appears on a US list of countries which support terrorism -- denies the US allegations.

The diplomatic source added: "At the same time Washington wants Egypt to convince Damascus to back up the (Middle East) road map."

Washington is expected to unveil a "road map" for Middle East peace after the Palestinian legislature approves a new government, envisioning a Palestinian state by 2005 and a halt to Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza.

Syria has expressed fears the plan is designed to further Israeli interests at the expense of Arabs.

The two leaders "reviewed the situation in Iraq and studied the road map for (Middle East) peace, (Palestinian) reforms and the new government which the Palestinian Authority is setting up," Egyptian Information Minister Safwat el-Sherif told his country's official news agency.

Both Syria and Egypt want to guarantee that postwar Iraq remains united and that Iraqis install a national government to prepare for a swift withdrawal of U.S-led forces.

Mubarak arrived in Bahrain later on Sunday for talks with King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa and was due to travel to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on Monday for talks on Iraq, local news agencies said.

"Both leaders affirmed the necessity of preserving the unity of Iraq...and giving Iraqi people the chance to decide their fate and political future and building a state with institutions and liberties," the Bahrain News Agency said.

(China Daily April 21, 2003)