ADJUSTING TO 4 MORE:

Syria pledges to stop infiltrations to Iraq (Associated Press, Nov. 7, 2004)

With preparations under way for US Marines to storm Fallujah, a stronghold of foreign and Iraqi insurgents, Syria pledged Sunday it will do all it can to stop infiltration through its border with Iraq.

Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa said during a short visit to Cairo to discuss the deteriorating situation in Iraq that a conference to be held in Egypt later this month will help stabilize Syria's war-torn neighbor.

"We are with Iraq's security and with halting this cross-border infiltration into Iraq," al-Sharaa told reporters after his meeting with President Hosni Mubarak.

Iraq's interim government and the United States have been pushing Iraq's neighbors, especially Syria, to secure their borders to prevent foreign fighters from neighboring Arab states and elsewhere to enter Iraq and attack coalition forces.

Middle East states and the powerful Group of Eight industrial nations are expected to throw their support behind the Iraqi interim government's efforts toward stability at a global conference scheduled Nov. 22-23 in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik. China, the United Nations, the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Conference and the European Union also will participate.