TONY BLAIR insisted last night that there were no plans by Britain or the US to invade Syria following the toppling of Saddam Hussein's Iraqi regime.

But his attempts to quell speculation that Damascus was next on the list for Coalition Forces came as senior figures in the US administration were piling the pressure on the Syrians.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell said the Syrians needed to "review their actions and their behaviour", while White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said that it was "well corroborated" that they had a chemical weapons programme. Washington has also accused Syria of harbouring senior figures in the Iraqi regime fleeing Coalition Forces.

The Prime Minister said in a Commons statement that he had spoken to Syrian President Bashar Assad at the weekend and received an assurance that no Iraqi regime figures would be given safe haven in his country.

He also played down claims by President George Bush at the weekend that Syria had chemical weapons, saying that the concern related to the fact that Damascus had not signed the international convention on chemical weapons.

Mr Blair's spokesman said that their knowledge of Syria's weapons programme was "a bit hazy".

While Mr Blair dismissed claims the Coalition was preparing plans for an invasion of Syria as another conspiracy theory, he warned that President Assad must stand by his assurances not to shelter Saddam's henchmen.