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Rice OKs talks on Iraqi refugees

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday she authorized the U.S. embassy in Syria to talk to Damascus about Iraqi refugees but downplayed expectations about a wider dialogue.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that about 3.7 million Iraqis have either fled the country or left their homes for a safer place inside Iraq amid intense sectarian violence.

The Bush administration has faced criticism from Congress because the United States has only taken in 466 Iraqi refugees since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. This week the State Department announced a new task force to study the Iraqi refugee issue.

The task force will examine the possibility of increasing humanitarian aid to refugees in neighboring countries, and whether the State Department should help Iraqis who work for the United States in Iraq and are under threat for their involvement with the United States, to emigrate.

Rice told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that she instructed the top U.S. diplomat in the country to talk to the Syrian government about the flow of Iraqi refugees, but made clear it was not the start of a broader conversation on Iraq.

The Bush administration has accused Syria of not doing enough to stop the flow of insurgents across its borders into Iraq and has resisted calls from Congress and the Iraq Study Group to engage with Syria to try to stabilize Iraq, saying such efforts have never borne fruit in the past.

Rice said Thursday that she was not interested in talking with Syria on broader issues, voicing concern Damascus would use such an overture to demand concessions from the government in Lebanon. Syrian troops withdrew from the country in 2005 under international pressure, but the regime still holds influence over Shiite factions, including Hezbollah.

"I am concerned that given the circumstances of Syrian behavior in Lebanon ... talking with Syria now about Iraq would have downsides for us in terms of Lebanon, in terms of what Syria would be looking for, in terms of how it would be perceived," Rice said.

The United States withdrew its ambassador from Damascus in 2005 after the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. Washington has accused Syrian officials of being involved in killing, an accusation Damascus denies.

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