WASHINGTON, Dec 20: President George Bush on Monday threatened Syria with new diplomatic or economic measures to pressure the country over its alleged interference in Iraqi politics.

"We have sent messages to the Syrians in the past and we will continue to do so. We have tools at our disposal - a variety of tools, ranging from diplomatic tools to economic pressure. Nothing's taken off the table," Mr Bush told a news conference.

The new threat comes less than a week after the president demanded that Syria and Iran stop guerillas and money from entering Iraq in the run-up to next month's elections. Iraq's interim defence minister has also accused those countries of working with the network of Al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi in Iraq.

"When I said the other day that I expect these countries to honour the political process in Iraq without meddling, I meant it. And hopefully those governments heard what I said," Mr Bush said.

"We ought to be working with the Syrian government to prevent them from either sending money and/or support of any kind" to the guerillas in Iraq, Mr Bush added. Washington accused Damascus of sending military equipment to Iraq during the invasion of Iraq last year.

Since then it has claimed that Damascus lets guerillas cross its border into Iraq and harbours former officials directing the anti-US fighters. Damascus denies those charges, and says it is doing its best to tighten control of the hundreds of kilometres of mostly desert terrain that define its border with Iraq.

Administration officials said in October that they were considering tightening US economic sanctions on Syria to put pressure on Damascus to pull its troops out of Lebanon and crack down on terrorism.

Congressional aides briefed by the administration said a leading option under consideration was freezing the assets of high-ranking government officials. In May, Mr Bush imposed a series of sanctions on Syria, including a ban on exports other than food and medicine. He accused Damascus of supporting terrorism, pursuing weapons of mass destruction and failing to stop anti-US guerillas from entering Iraq. -Reuters