BEIRUT, November 6. /TASS/. The Foreign Ministry of the Syrian Transitional Government has called media reports about US intentions to use an airbase in southern Damascus to underpin a future Syrian-Israeli non-aggression pact unreliable.

"The information that the United States is preparing to deploy a military presence at an airbase near Damascus is not true," a Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by SANA news agency.

It says that the United States is not going to deploy bases in Syria.

"At this stage, there is a desire on the American side for direct interaction with the central government in Damascus," SANA says. "The United States supports its efforts to unite the country and rejects any calls for division."

Earlier, Reuters news agency reported that the United States is preparing to deploy a military contingent at an airbase in Damascus to ensure support for a future security agreement between Syria and Israel. Under it, this base will be located at the entrance to the southern regions, which are part of the demilitarized zone.

On October 29, the Al Arabiya TV channel reported that Syria and Israel are close to joint security agreements. The agreement, with some minor changes, will resemble in basic terms a 1974 agreement on the separation of the Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights.