However, one of the officials who attended the meeting ruled out the military option for the time being.

One option under consideration was launching a major offensive on several villages 30 to 40 miles inside Syria that the U.S. government claims have been harboring Iraqi rebels. But one official said it is not clear whether the presence of rebels in the area is part of the Syrian government policy, or simply because fighters have intimidated villagers.

Asked about yesterday’s meeting, the White House declined to comment.

In his weekly radio address yesterday, the American President George W. Bush discussed the war in Iraq and made reference to Syria.

"Coalition and Iraqi troops are pursuing the terrorists in western Iraq, working to deny Al Qaeda a safe haven there, and to stop terrorists from crossing into the country through Syria," he said.

Hundreds of U.S. troops, backed by helicopters, swept into an Iraqi village near the Syrian border Sunday, breaking into houses and engaging in fierce gun battles with rebels on the second day of the U.S. Operation Iron Fist, according to AP new agency.

Witnesses said that dozens of Sadah residents fled into Syria before the offensive began, and that about 1,000 U.S. troops appear to be widening the sweep into two other towns on the Syrian.

Also Sunday, troops used loudspeakers to warn Karabila residents to stay at their homes for their own safety. And in Rumana, a town on the other side of the Euphrates River, U.S. warplanes bombed several houses, sending clouds of black smoke up into the sky, witnesses said on condition of anonymity.