By DEB RIECHMANN
The Associated Press
Wednesday, November 22, 2006; 9:03 PM

WASHINGTON -- President Bush called Lebanon's leader Wednesday to express his dismay at the assassination of a cabinet minister _ a slaying that heightened anxiety in the Mideast and complicated Bush's meeting in the region next week with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The United States denounced the assassination of Pierre Gemayel, the minister of industry and a strong opponent of Syrian influence in Lebanon, as an act of terrorism. Bush accused Syria and Iran of trying to undermine the young, democratically elected government of Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, which is being challenged by the Islamic militant group Hezbollah.

"President Bush reiterated to Prime Minister Saniora the unwavering commitment of the United States to help build Lebanese democracy, and to support Lebanese independence from the encroachments of Iran and Syria," said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council at the White House.

Syria has denied involvement in the killing.

"We're not making any direct accusations, but let me say that the trends and the record seem to be very clear," C. David Welch, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, said in an interview Wednesday with al-Arabiya Television. "The implication that Syria may be involved is, of course, a very heavy one, but the burden of responsibility that Syria bears not to interfere in the situation in Lebanon could not be more important than at this moment."

As the situation in Lebanon seemed to worsen, the White House announced that Bush would go to Jordan next week to talk to al-Maliki about how to speed up the transfer of security responsibilities to the Iraqis.

National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the two leaders would hear from a joint commission they set up to identify ways to strengthen Iraqi security forces and to improve the Iraqi government's control over them.

Vice President Dick Cheney is also headed for the region. He is to meet on Saturday in Saudi Arabia with Saudi King Abdullah to discuss developments in the Middle East, then return to Washington with no other stops planned.

Bush's visit with al-Maliki, an attempt to reassert U.S. influence in the region, could help the president show that he hasn't lost control of the situation in Iraq to neighboring Syria and Iran _ two countries the United States has accused of meddling in Baghdad's affairs. This week, Iraq and Syria restored diplomatic ties after nearly a quarter century.

Al-Maliki visited the United States in late July, a month after Bush made an unannounced trip to Baghdad. Amman, Jordan, was viewed as a less dangerous location than Baghdad for the upcoming meeting.

Plans for the get-together on Wednesday and Thursday follow Iran's invitation to host the Iraqi and Syrian presidents this weekend in Tehran _ an invitation thought to be an attempt by Tehran to upstage expected U.S. moves to enlist Syria and Iran in dealing with the chaos in Iraq.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said he would attend. Participation of Syrian President Bashar Assad had not been confirmed, but Talabani's aides, speaking on condition of anonymity because of sensitive negotiations surrounding the meeting, said Assad would be there.

Damascus denies involvement in the killing of Gemayel, but U.S. officials suspect a Syrian connection. Bush expressed his condolences in phone calls to both the Lebanese prime minister and to former Lebanese President Amin Gemayel, the father of the slain cabinet minister.

The U.S. has accused Syria and Iran of plotting to topple Saniora's fragile government, which is dominated by politicians opposed to Syrian influence in Lebanon. The slaying of Gemayel was the fifth murder of an anti-Syrian figure in Lebanon in two years.

Meanwhile, an independent panel led by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, a Republican close to the Bush family, and former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton, is getting ready to release recommendations on U.S. options in Iraq. The proposals are expected to include openings to Syria and Iran in a bid to internationalize efforts to control the sectarian conflict.

Shibley Telhami, a Mideast scholar at the University of Maryland, said the United States and Syria are engaged in a "delicate dance."

"It's going to be very complicated because you're likely to have a real crisis in Lebanon intensifying over the next few weeks, and that's going to overshadow, I think, what the president was hoping Syria would do on Iraq," Telhami said.

He said the United States does not want Iranian-Syrian-Iraqi cooperation without U.S. involvement.

Jon Alterman, a Mideast expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said he thought there was an outside chance the administration would step up contact with Syria, but that in the end it would decide against it, partly because of U.S. anger about Syria's role in Lebanon.

"I think the administration was going to be under some pressure to open some sort of dialogue," Alterman said. "It seems to me that the assassination makes it less likely."

___

Associated Press Writer Nasser Karimi in Iran contributed to this story.