President Bashar Assad says Syria will defend itself against any aggression, according to Belfast Telegraph.

His comments, reported by Syria's state news agency, come at a time of rising expectations of a punitive military strike against Syria by Western powers, in response to suspected poison gas attacks near Damascus last week. The group Doctors Without Borders says the attacks killed 355 people.

U.S. President Barack Obama signalled that the U.S. is moving toward a punitive strike, saying he has "concluded" that Assad's regime is behind the attacks and that there "need to be international consequences."

The SANA news agency quoted Assad as telling a visiting delegation from Yemen that "Syria will defend itself against any aggression."