BEIRUT, Lebanon, May 3 — Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, opening a new phase of direct American diplomacy in the Middle East, met today with President Bashar al-Assad and said afterward that Syria had begun closing the offices of at least some militant groups in Damascus as urged by the United States.

Although Mr. Powell gave no details and Syria provided no immediate confirmation, a senior State Department official said that Syria had shut down the offices of three organizations that the United states considers terrorist. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, identified them as Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Syria has long maintained that the groups only kept information offices in Damascus. The State Department official also said that Syria was taking steps to ensure that members of the groups would limit their television appearances from Damascus.

[...]In his visit to Syria, Mr. Powell said that "a new strategic situation" had emerged with the fall of Saddam Hussein's government in Iraq, and it appeared that that message had already been heard. Speaking at a news conference in Beirut hours after a visit to Damascus, Mr. Powell said of the Syrian government: "They did some closures. I expect them to do more with respect to access and the appearance of various officials of organizations, and we've provided some other suggestions to the Syrians that they have taken under advisement. And I expect to hear back from them in the future."

Also of concern to the United States is Syrian support for Hezbollah, the radical Shiite Muslim group that is powerful in southern Lebanon.United States intelligence officials have also said that Syria allowed Hezbollah members to pass through to Iraq during the war. It has lobbed missiles into Israel in the past, but the border has been quiet recently.

"We have emphasized strongly our concern about continuing terrorist activities of Hezbollah in the region and around the world," Mr. Powell said. He called on Lebanon to send its army to the border with Israel and "end armed Hezbollah militia incursions." [...]

A senior State Department official traveling in the region said Mr. Assad responded by saying Syria had helped track down members of Al Qaeda and refused entry to fleeing Iraqi officials. The official said the talks lasted nearly three hours and paraphrased Mr. Powell as telling Mr. Assad, "The president sent me to bring you our concerns in the strongest terms."

The official said the Syrians displayed "some willingness to cooperate," but added, "whether relations improve or deteriorate really depends on performance."

Before meeting Mr. Assad, Mr. Powell said he wanted to see "specific action and performance" from Syria reflecting the new reality. "That will be taken into account as we decide on our future strategy."[...]

Speaking to reporters in Damascus earlier today, Mr. Powell sought to reassure a jittery Syria that it would not end up in a sequel to the Iraq war. "I'm here to pursue diplomacy and mutual political efforts that both sides can be taking," he said. "So the issue of war hostilities is not on the table."

But on this trip, Mr. Powell dropped a reminder of Washington's displeasure, noting on Friday that Syria failed to live up to its promise to stop smuggling in Iraqi oil through a pipeline outside of the United Nations oil-for-food program. "I will always have that in my background software and on my hard drive," he said.

In Lebanon today, where Syria maintains more than 20,000 troops who remained under an agreement to end the civil war, Mr. Powell made another pointed reference, saying the United States supports a Lebanon "free of all, all foreign forces."[...]