DAMASCUS, Aug. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- Syria on Saturday rejected the US charges that it was responsible for the unrest in the war-torn Iraq.

    In a regular daily commentary, Syria's state radio described as"unwarranted" the new anti-Syrian charges by US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in a speech to the Foreign Relations Council in Los Angeles.

    "Unless the root causes of terrorism are addressed, this phenomenon would continue and worsen," it said, adding that the Syrian government was favorable to the current political process in Iraq.

    It stressed that Syria had supported all international anti-terrorism measures and resolutions "at a time when other countries, now making such accusations, had not provided Syria with technical means to monitor the border and prevent infiltration."

    Meanwhile, the official Tishrin daily also criticized Rumsfeld's accusations, saying Syria has repeatedly announced its readiness to cooperate with the United States and handed hundreds of detainees to their countries before they entered Iraq.

    The United States has always accused Syria of not doing enough to stop anti-US militants from crossing into Iraq and destabilizing the situation there, Syria has denied the charges.

    In his latest accusation, Rumsfeld said that the Syrian leadersare acting unwisely and so Syria will remain on the list of countries sponsoring terrorism for a number of years.

    He said that Syria is unhelpful and is a cause of harm to the situation in Iraq. Enditem