SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, June 20 (AFP) - Syria should not ignore regional changes, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Monday on the Egyptian leg of a tour aimed at promoting democratic reforms in the Middle East.

"The United States has been very clear that our concerns are with Syria's behaviour. We need a Syria that takes seriously the changes that are happening here in the region," she said.

Rice was speaking in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit.

On Saturday and Sunday, Rice held talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials on this summer's planned Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and is due to attend a conference on Iraq Tuesday in Brussels.

"Syria needs to stop its support for rejectionists in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," Rice said, referring to the Palestinian radical group Islamic Jihad which has its headquarters in Damascus.

"Syria needs to control its border and make sure that its territory is not being used for insurgents in Iraq," she also stressed.

Piling more responsibility on Syria for the region's woes, she also hinted that Damascus had not fully delivered on its pledge to withdraw all troops and agents from Lebanon.

"Syria needs to fulfill completely its obligations under (UN) resolution 1559 in Lebanon. The Lebanese people are demonstrating that they wish to have a very different future than they've had over the last 30 years," Rice said.

US reports that Syria had maintained agents who might be involved in high-profile assassinations prompted the United Nations to send a verification mission back to Lebanon to check on Damascus' claim that it has pulled out all its troops in April.

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