DAMASCUS, Oct. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- An official Syrian newspaper on Thursday called for dialogue with the United States as Washington was pushing for sanctions against Syria following a UN report which implicated Syrian involvement in the assassination of ex-Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri.

   "This is not the time for the use of force, which has proved a failure in other parts of the world but the time for dialogue... because Syrians and Americans have a lot in common and the American people are a friendly people," said an editorial in the Al-Thawra daily.

   "The language of pressure and threats used by US President George W. Bush and his Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are closing off the avenues for dialogue even though there are many points on which agreement is possible," said the commentary, signed by editor Faisal al-Sayegh.

   Washington, together with Paris and London, circulated a draft resolution at the UN Security Council on Tuesday calling for sanctions to be imposed against any individual implicated in Hariri's killing in a February bomb blast in Beirut, including high officials.

   But the 15-nation Security Council was divided over the draft resolution, which also urged full cooperation from Syria in the probe of the murder.

   Syria has denied any involvement in the killing and rejected the report as "politically motivated and far from truth."

   Syria withdrew its troops and intelligence agents from Lebanon in late April under growing international pressure after Hariri's death sparked widespread anti-Syrian protests in Lebanon. Enditem