REPORT: Assad says Syria will defend itself against aggression -...

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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Thursday that Syria would defend itself against any aggression following reports that the United States and its allies were preparing military action in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack.

"The threats of direct aggression against Syria will only increase our commitment to our deep-rooted principles and the independent will of our people. Syria will defend itself in the face of any aggression," state television quoted Assad as telling a delegation of Yemeni politicians.

Assad added that Syria is determined to wipe out terrorist cells that are supported by the West and Israel.

Earlier, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said U.N. experts seeking to collect evidence from an apparent chemical attack in Syria that killed hundreds of people will report to him as soon as they leave the country Saturday.

The team is expected to complete its inspection on Friday and their conclusions will be shared with members of the Security Council, Ban said. He didn't specify when that might be.

Ban has urged restraint in the face of increasing signs of retaliatory military action against Syrian President Bashar Assad by the United States and its allies.

Speaking to reporters, Ban said he repeated that message Wednesday in a conversation with President Barack Obama.

The findings of the experts will also be shared with all U.N. member countries, said Ban.

US leaders, including Vice President Joe Biden, have charged that Assad's government was behind the Aug. 21 attack that Doctors Without Borders says killed at least 355 people.

The White House says it's planning a possible military response while seeking support from international partners.

The United Nations team of chemical weapons experts in Syria reached rebel-held territory outside Damascus on Thursday, activists said, and was preparing to start a third day of investigations into an apparent poison gas attack in the area.

The Syrian regime has denied using chemical weapons on its own civilians last week.

Obama said he was not seeking a lengthy, open-ended conflict in Syria, indicating that any US response would be limited in scope.

But he argued that Syria's alleged use of chemical weapons not only violated international norms, but threatened America.

Laying out a legal justification for a U.S. response, Obama said Syria was violating the Geneva Protocols, an agreement signed in 1925 in the wake of World War I to ban the use of chemical gases.

The White House has also cited the Chemical Weapons Convention, a 1992 agreement that builds on the Geneva Protocols by prohibiting the development and stockpiling of chemical weapons.

Syria is a party to the original Geneva accord, but not the latter chemical weapons agreement. Syria, which sits on one of the world's largest stockpiles of chemical weapons, has denied the charges.

Russia to send two ships to Mediterranean:

Russia will send two ships to the east Mediterranean to strengthen its naval presence because of the "well-known situation" there, Interfax news agency said on Thursday referring to the Syria crisis.

The agency quoted a source in the armed forces' general staff as saying an anti-submarine vessel and a missile cruiser would be sent in the coming days because the situation "required us to make some adjustments" in the naval force. The Defense Ministry was not immediately available for comment.

ICRC:

An escalation of the Syrian crisis in the wake of the apparent use of chemical weapons will worsen the situation in the country where the suffering of civilians has reached unprecedented levels, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.

In a statement on Thursday, the ICRC said it was appalled by reports of chemical weapons being used on Aug. 21 and said there were acute shortages of vital medical supplies, food and water in a number of areas cut off from aid for months.

"Further escalation will likely trigger more displacement and add to humanitarian needs, which are already immense," said Magne Barth, head of the ICRC delegation in Syria. "In large parts of rural Damascus for example, people are dying because they lack medical supplies and because there are not enough medical personnel to attend to them."

REACTIONS:

Britain's government published internal legal advice it had been given on Thursday which it said showed it was legally entitled to take military action against Syria even if the United Nations Security Council blocked such action.

It also published intelligence material on last week's chemical weapons attack in Syria, saying there was no doubt that such an attack had taken place, that it was "highly likely" that the Syrian government had been behind it, and that there was "some" intelligence to suggest that was the case.

For his part, Prime Minister David Cameron said it was "unthinkable" that Britain would launch military action against Syria to punish and deter it from chemical weapons use if there was strong opposition at the United Nations Security Council.

Earlier, Pope Francis and King Abdullah of Jordan agreed during a meeting that dialogue among Syrians with the backing of the International Community was the "only option" to bring an end to the conflict in Syria, the Vatican said in a statement.

King Abdullah flew to Rome specifically to meet the Pope to discuss the Mideast crisis. The King, Queen Rania and the Pope spoke privately for 20 minutes in the Vatican's apostolic palace.

This as, French President Francois Hollande said a political solution must remain the focus for Syria but that could only happen if the International Community can halt the killings and better support the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad.

"We will only manage this if the International Community can put a temporary stop to this escalation in violence, of which the chemical attack is just one example," Hollande said after meeting the head of the opposition Syrian National Coalition, Ahmad Jarba.

For his part, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said "in light of the massacre that took place in Damascus, a response is necessary,"

Fabuis added that the Syrian regime must realize that this crime is unacceptable.

In the same context, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Hollande agreed in a phone call there must be a reaction to the poison gas attack in Syria that violated human rights, Merkel's spokesman said in a statement.

"They hope for a quick end to the U.N.'s investigation mission and an immediate report to the U.N. Security Council so that it can fulfill its responsibility with regards to this monstrous crime," the statement read.

Germany's Merkel also urged Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call to use the United Nations Security Council to get a quick, international reaction to Syria's conflict, her spokesman said in a statement.

Just four weeks before elections in which Merkel hopes to win a third term, she faces a balancing act in how to respond to pictures of the chemical weapons attack, as German voters overwhelmingly oppose military action there.

Moscow, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is seen as certain to veto any call for intervention in the U.N. Security Council.

Meanwhile, Iran's state TV reported that President Hassan Rouhani has said Iran will apply all efforts to prevent military action against the Tehran-backed regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

For his part, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday that any military intervention in Syria will only lead to further turmoil in the Middle East, calling for restraint.

In turn, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said that calls for a strike against Syria are an “undisguised challenge” to the United Nations Charter and international law.

This as the Syrian National Coalition urged Western powers to launch a punitive strike against Bashar al-Assad's government quickly and offer real military and political support to stop people being "exterminated".

Head of the SNC Ahmad Jarba told the French daily Le Parisien in an interview published on Thursday he hoped to see a strike and support for the Syrian Free Army.

As for Turkey, officials say Ankara is on alert against possible chemical attacks from Syria and has stocked food and gas masks along their shared border.

It also said a team of 100 chemical weapons experts were sent to the border area which was being screened for any signs of chemical attacks.

Turkey is the strongest critic of Syrian President Bashar Assad, and has backed Syria's opposition and rebels. The country said this week it would take part in any international coalition that would move against the Syrian government.

AP/LBCI/REUTERS

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