THE US Secretary of State, Mr Warren Christopher, left Damascus yesterday after failing to meet President Hatez al Assad or Syria, who could hold the key to ending 13 days of Israeli attacks on Lebanon.
The State Department spokesman, Mr Nicholas Burns, said the Syrian Foreign Minister, Mr Farouq al Sharn, had told Mr Christopher that Mr Assad was "not available" for a meeting.
A senior Syrian official said Mr Assad could not meet Mr Christopher because he was hosting the Pakistani Prime Minister, Ms Benazir Bhutt he had postponed a visit to Damascus on Saturday's that Mr Assad could meet Mr Christopher.
Mr Burns said the Secretary of State had a "good conversation" with Mr Shara. But it was not clear where his inability to see Mr Assad left Mr Christopher in his efforts to broker an Israeli Hizbullah truce.
Mr Burns said Mr Christopher was leaving Damascus "towards" Jerusalem, leaving open the possibility of another stop on the way. He refused to say whether Mr Christopher would stop in Lebanon.
The brief stop in Damascus where Mr Christopher had met Mr Assad three times since Saturday was the American's latest in four days of shuttle diplomacy.
Earlier yesterday, Mr Christopher said in Jerusalem his mission to forge a truce faced problems and had reached an intense stage.
US officials said Mr Christopher was plying back and forth with Israeli and Syrian comments on a one page US draft accord. They could not say when, if at all, agreement would be reached.
Mr Burns said on Monday the US team was hoping for a deal this week. The Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Shimon Peres, is scheduled to begin a visit to the US this weekend.
Mr Christopher met Mr Peres in Jerusalem earlier and said after their talks: "We are in a very intense period now ... I can see a very serious effort to deal with the difficult problems we're facing together.
US officials have made clear Washington does not expect an Israeli withdrawal from the area it occupies in south Lebanon, from which Hizbullah has been trying to drive the Israelis, until Israel has full peace agreements with Lebanon and Syria.
Diplomats say Washington and Israel also want guarantees that Hizbullah would not attack Israeli troops in the occupation zone. But there has been no word on this from US officials.
The French Foreign Minister, Mr Herve de Charette, is in the Middle Fast as well, promoting a peace plan which revives the 1993 "understanding" but which sees Syria and Iran as guarantors along with Western powers.