(Adds comment from Rice)

By Sue Pleming

NEW YORK, Sept 27 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice condemned a massive blast in Damascus on Saturday and said she had met Syria's foreign minister on Friday to discuss regional issues.

"I just learned this morning of the bombing in Syria. I don't think we know (who did it) ... Obviously any activity by extremists is concerning," Rice told reporters at her New York hotel.

At least 17 civilians were killed in Saturday's attack in Damascus when a powerful car bomb exploded near a security complex.

Rice said she had a 10-15 minute meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem on the sidelines of an Iftar dinner at the U.N. General Assembly on Friday night where they discussed regional issues.

"It was just to talk a bit about the regional situation and some of the emerging efforts there. He was at the Iftar," said Rice, without giving further details of their discussion.

Syria has been involved in indirect peace talks with Israel, with Turkish mediation, and Rice expressed U.S. support for those talks, reiterating the United States was ready to help when needed.

"The United States has always said that at the time that it would be helpful, the United States would of course be willing to play a role," said Rice.

"We recognize that comprehensive peace has to have movement along all tracks, but of course our focus is on the Palestinian-Israeli track because we believe that that is the one that is most mature," she said.

The United States is mediating Palestinian statehood talks and hopes to have a deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians before the end of the year, although hopes are dimming for that.

The Israelis and the Syrians have already held four rounds of indirect talks which focus on the fate of the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war. Damascus demands the return of all the Golan.

Israel, in turn, wants Syria to scale back ties with its main foes -- Iran and the Palestinian Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah militants groups. Syria has so far refused to do so.

State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said no Americans were injured or killed in the car bomb but that in light of heightened security concerns, the U.S. Embassy's consular section would be closed for all but "emergency services" for U.S. citizens.

"We strongly condemn the bombing and all terrorist actions and send our condolences to the victims' families," Duguid told reporters in New York.

The embassy's consular section would re-open on Oct. 5 after the Eid holiday, he said.

The bombing, on the road to the city's main airport, was the third major attack in the tightly-controlled country this year.

(Reporting by Sue Pleming, Editing by Sandra Maler)

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