US defense officials said late on Friday that the USS San Antonio, a ship with several hundred US Marines on board, was in the region for a different reason and there were no plans to put Marines on the ground as part of any military action against Syria.

One of the officials claimed the San Antonio's passage into the Mediterranean was long-planned, but officials thought it prudent to keep the ship in the eastern Mediterranean near the destroyers given the current situation.

"It's been kept there as a precaution," said one of the officials, who was not authorized to speak publicly.

The San Antonio transited through the Suez Canal on Thursday from the Red Sea, and received new orders on Friday to remain in the eastern Mediterranean, near the destroyers, according to defense officials. It is one of three ships that are carrying 2,200 Marines who have been on a six-month deployment in the region around the Arabian Peninsula.

The US is rushing to attack Syria over an alleged chemical attack in Syria, before results of UN investigations over the story are final.

The Barack Obama administration, backed with Israeli intelligence services, says it has concluded that the Syrian army has used chemicals near Damascus without giving any evidence.

US claims come as Syria has already provided UN with evidences on at least three chemical attacks carried out by US-backed militants near the Syrian capital.

NTJ/SHI