The United States confirmed on Monday that its officials met with a dozen Syrian opponents of President Bashar Assad last week to assess the political situationin that country.

The Thursday meeting was focused on the current situation in Syria, the state of reform efforts, and the views of civil society leaders there, deputy spokesman of the State Department Adam Erelitold a news briefing.

Ereli dismissed suggestions that the meeting was part of US contingency planning in the event that the government of President Bashar Assad, under heavy pressure for its presence in Lebanon, might collapse.

"This is not where we're going in those discussions. The discussion was, how can we support the Syrian people's desire for reform, for greater freedoms, for greater opportunity within the system that exists there now."

The Washington Post reported last Saturday that the meeting was triggered by growing concerns that unrest in Lebanon could spill over and suddenly destabilize Syria.

The Washington Post and the Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat said the meeting with the Syrian dissidents was hosted by Elizabeth Cheney, deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs.

Also reportedly on hand were aides to her father, Vice President Dick Cheney, as well as officials from the Pentagon and the National Security Council.

The Syrian side reportedly included leaders of the Syrian Reform Party, a small US-based group set up after the September 11,2001 terror attacks to promote democratic and economic reforms and secular government back home.

The US newspaper quoted French President Jacques Chirac as telling US President George W. Bush last month that Bashar's government could fall if Syria pulled its 14,000 troops out of Lebanon and allowed free elections there.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the Washington Postin an interview on Friday that Washington was talking to "as many people as we possibly can" about potential scenarios for Syria and Lebanon.

"What we're trying to do is to assess the situation so that nobody is blindsided because events are moving so fast and in such unpredictable directions that it is only prudent at this point to know what's going on," she said.