(Adds Rice quotes, background) SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, May 3 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on Syria at a rare high-level, face-to-face meeting on Thursday to take action to stop foreign fighters from entering Iraq. Rice told reporters after about 30 minutes of talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem in Egypt that action by Damascus could help efforts to stabilise Iraq. "The Syrians clearly say that stability in Iraq is in their interest, but actions will speak louder than words and we will have to see how this develops," she said. Washington has accused Syria of allowing foreign fighters to enter Iraq through the long border between the two countries and is pressing for an international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. The meeting between Rice and Moualem marked a change in the policy of U.S. President George W. Bush's administration, which stopped high-level contacts with Syria on grounds Damascus had not complied with U.S. demands. Rice said the talks on the sidelines of an international conference about Iraq in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh were "professional and business-like". Moualem described the talks as "frank and constructive". "I didn't lecture him, he didn't lecture me," said Rice. "We don't want to have a difficult relationship with Syria, but there needs to be some basis for a better relationship -- concrete steps that show on the Iraq issue that there will actually be action," she said. The United States and Syria have a long list of disagreements and have supported opposing sides in Lebanon, which is divided over the country's geopolitical alignment. The United States calls Syria a state sponsor of terrorism because of its relationship with the Hezbollah group in Lebanon and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
