Syria denies possessing chemical weapons
In an Australian TV interview, he denied US allegations that Syria had chemical weapons or had allowed Iraq to hide banned weapons on its soil.
"The Syrian government is ready to sign a treaty under UN supervision to make the whole Middle East a zone free from all mass destruction weapons, nuclear, chemical and biological," he told SBS in Damascus.
Since the fall of Saddam Hussein's government, Washington has begun to turn its attention on Damascus, accusing Syria of harbouring Saddam's allies and of developing chemical weapons.
Arab diplomats at the United Nations said that US ally Israel was the only country in the Middle East with weapons of mass destruction, and added they would seek a UN Security Council resolution declaring the region free of such deadly arms.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman in Damascus said Syria was ready to propose such a resolution.
Israel is believed to have around 200 nuclear warheads, not subject to any international monitoring regime.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Tuesday the US favoured a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction, but linked any possible inspection of Israel's arsenal to peace with Syria and Lebanon.
Shara's call came as six key pro-Western Gulf Arab states called on the US to stop threatening Syria.
The Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) whose members control nearly half the world's known oil reserves also said that setting up a transitional government in US-occupied Iraq was an urgent priority.
The Arab League ambassador to the UN, Yahya Mahmassani, said US allegations against Syria were "unacceptable and unfounded".
"The Arab world is already engulfed with anger and frustration," he said.
Both Britain and Spain, crucial allies in the war against Iraq, have declined to support the US against Syria.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has expressed concern that recent statements about Syria may further destabilise the Middle East.
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