BEIRUT, Lebanon - Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, opening a new phase of direct U.S. diplomacy in the Middle East, met yesterday with President Bashar Assad and said afterward that Syria had begun closing the offices of at least some militant groups in Damascus, as urged by the United States.
Although Powell gave no details and Syria provided no immediate confirmation, a senior State Department official said Syria had shut down the offices of three organizations that the United States considers terrorist. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, identified them as Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Syria has long maintained that the groups kept only information offices in Damascus. The State Department official also said Syria was taking steps to ensure that members of the groups would limit their television broadcasts from Damascus.
In his visit to Syria, Powell said that "a new strategic situation" had emerged with the fall of Saddam Hussein's government in Iraq, and it appeared that that message had already been heard. Speaking at a news conference in Beirut hours after a visit to Damascus, Powell said of the Syrian government: "They did some closures. I expect them to do more with respect to access and the appearance of various officials of organizations, and we've provided some other suggestions to the Syrians that they have taken under advisement. And I expect to hear back from them in the future."
Also of concern to the United States is Syrian support for Hezbollah, the radical Shiite Muslim group that is powerful in southern Lebanon. U.S. intelligence officials have also said that Syria allowed Hezbollah members to pass through to Iraq during the war. The group has lobbed missiles into Israel in the past, but the border has been quiet recently.
"We have emphasized strongly our concern about continuing terrorist activities of Hezbollah in the region and around the world," Powell said. He called on Lebanon to send its army to the border with Israel and to "end armed Hezbollah militia incursions."
The idea of confrontation with Hezbollah is extremely delicate in a country that suffered 15 years of civil war among sectarian groups. Lebanon's government and military consider Hezbollah a legitimate resistance force to Israel, which they say occupies a tiny patch of land called Shebaa Farms that they claim is Lebanon's.
