US under pressure to allow truly independent regime

The United States came under strong regional pressure yesterday to hand over power in Iraq to a post-Saddam government that was not a mere puppet regime of Washington and London.

The demand, an important theme of a meeting of Iraq's neighbours in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, emerged as Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, confirmed that he would soon travel to Syria. He said he would read the riot act to the President, Bashar al-Assad, over the alleged shelter provided for members of the former Iraqi regime and pursuit of chemical weapons.

General Powell, raising Washington's biggest immediate concern, urged Damascus to "do the right thing" and return the former officials to Iraq "so that they can stand before justice administered by the Iraqi people". Though he gave no date, his trip is likely to happen this month.

American diplomats claim that pressure is already starting to have an effect on Syria. Damascus denies all the accusations, but the US believes some senior Iraqis have now been turned away at the border, and that Mr Assad may now be ready to expel others who are already in the country. Among these individuals are said to be Farouk Hijazi, a former Iraqi ambassador to Turkey and senior official in Iraq's intelligence service, as well as Saddam Hussein's first wife, Sajida Khairallah Telfah.

But the Bush administration's pressure on Syria appears, if anything, to be producing a counter-reaction in the region, fuelled by worries that hawks in Washington will manipulate the formation of a new Baghdad government to ensure that it is friendly to Israel.

Privately, members of some "moderate" Arab regimes aligned with the US are also fearful that if the promised democracy really does take root in Iraq, their own days in power may be numbered.

The make-up of the Riyadh gathering – the first since President Saddam was ousted – shows how the shockwaves of that event are reverberating throughout the region.

The eight participants included not only Washington's traditional allies – Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia – but Syria and Iran, both longstanding opponents of the US, which are both accused of supporting terrorism.

With the exception of Turkey, which wants to put the reconstruction of Iraq at the top of the agenda, the other countries have set aside longstanding quarrels to press for the emergence of a genuinely independent Iraqi government as soon as possible.

Ahmed Maher, Egypt's Foreign Minister, said: "We'll discuss how to help the Iraqi people decide their own future ... without foreign intervention. This is Iraq, not the United States, so it is normal that the government of Iraq should be Iraqi. Isn't it logical?"

Iran's President, Mohammad Khatami, went further, saying that regional countries had a "very important role" in the establishment of a new Iraqi government.

His words reflect other concerns of several of Baghdad's neighbours: that Iraq's territorial integrity be preserved, and that sections of the population with which they have close affinities – in the case of Iran, the Shia Muslims – should be as strongly represented as possible.

Yet a new government tilted towards the Shias would worry states such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, which are predominantly Sunni.

Though vowing to hold Iraq together, Washington has shown scant sign of giving outsiders much of a say in shaping the country's future.