)
Syria's foreign minister said today his country would defend itself using "all means available" in case of a US strike, denying categorically his government was behind an alleged chemical weapons attack near Damascus and challenging Washington to present proof backing up its accusations.
Walid al-Moallem also said a second trip by United Nations experts to the site of last week's purported chemical weapons attack has been delayed because of disputes between rebel groups.
Al-Moallem spoke at a press conference in Damascus, a day after US Secretary of State John Kerry stated there was "undeniable" evidence of a large-scale chemical attack likely launched by the regime of President Bashar Assad.
Kerry used particularly tough language to refer to the alleged poison gas attack in a Damascus suburb, saying that an "international norm cannot be violated without consequences."
The remarks were the clearest justification yet for US military action in Syria, which, if President Barack Obama decides to order it, would most likely involve sea-launched cruise missile attacks on Syrian military targets.
Support for some sort of international military response waas likely to grow if it is confirmed that Assad's regime was responsible for the August 21 attack that activists say killed hundreds of people. The group Doctors Without Borders put the death toll at 355.
Obama has yet to say how he will respond, but appeared to be moving ahead even as the UN team already on the ground in Syria collected evidence from the attack.
At the news conference, Al-Moallem called the US accusations that the Syrian regime likely used chemical weapons "categorically false."
"I challenge those who accuse our forces of using these weapons to come forward with the evidence," he said. Syria would fight back in case a US strike, he added.
"We have the means to defend ourselves and we will surprise everyone," he told reporters at a press conference in Damascus. "We will defend ourselves using all means available. I don't want to say more than that," he added.
He declined to elaborate or say to what specific means he was referring.
He also said rebels in the capital's suburbs known as eastern Ghouta have postponed the UN team's visit by one day because gunmen could not reach agreement about guaranteeing their safety. He did not elaborate.
