US rules out border raids

Washington: US Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Friday ruled out US cross-border raids in Iran or Syria in pursuit of networks smuggling arms and fighters into Iraq.

Iranians have been captured twice in operations in Iraq, said General Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who testified with Gates before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Gates said President George W. Bush's vow in a major strategy speech to attack such networks was not referring to cross-border operations.

The assertion came as Senator John McCain, a leading Republican presidential contender for 2008, defended Bush's plan as a difficult but necessary move, parting company with lawmakers questioning the wisdom of the surge.

Bush himself sought support for the plan in telephone calls to Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice left for a visit covering Egypt, Jordan Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, the White House said Bush would meet UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday.