Assad vows response to Israeli attack ;30/05/2013

Syrian President Bashar al Assad has said his country will respond to any Israeli attack on its soil.

In an interview to be aired on Thursday by Manar TV station in neighbouring Lebanon, Assad also said he had already received the first shipment of an advanced Russian air defence system and would soon get the rest of the S-300 missile system.

The comments were first published on Thursday by the Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar which got excerpts of the interview.

"Syria has received the first shipment of Russian anti-aircraft S-300 rockets," al-Akhbar quoted Assad as saying. "The rest of the shipment will arrive soon."

Israel has suggested its military might strike the Russian S300 missiles.

Meanwhile, Syrian opposition members meeting in the Turkish city of Istanbul have set preconditions on entering international peace talks scheduled for next month in Geneva.

The Syrian National Coalition (SNC) will meet for a final day on Thursday to see how they can take part in peace talks being brokered by Russia - a key Syria ally - and the United States to end the ongoing conflict.

The SNC laid out preconditions on Wednesday for the conference, which hopes to bring the Syrian government and opposition together for the first time.

They want, among other requirements, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to quit before they enter international peace talks.

"The participation of the Syrians in any conference is tied to the presentation of a deadline for a solution and giving the necessary binding international guarantees," said a statement released by the coalition.

"The Syrian Coalition welcomes the international efforts to find a political solution to what Syria has been suffering for two years while being committed to the principles of the revolution."

Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh, reporting from Istanbul, said: "The opposition wants to see guarantees by the international community - binding measures as they say in their own words - that Assad will not be part of any settlement agreement."

Major powers also remain divided on who will take part in the talks or when they will be held, Ban Ki-moon, the UN chief, said on Wednesday.

Ban told reporters "active consultations" were still being held, while Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the UN, said the US government's "entire foreign policy apparatus" was working to hold the meeting.

The US has also called on Lebanon's Hezbollah to withdraw its fighters from Syria immediately. Fighters from the Shia militia-party backed by Iran are fighting alongside Syrian forces.

France says some 3,000 to 4,000 Hezbollah fighters are currently battling alongside regime troops in Syria.