Assad vows to confront US attack

President Bashar al-Assad said on Sunday Syria was capable of confronting any external attack after US President Barack Obama vowed to strike Syria.

"Syria ... is capable of confronting any external aggression," state television quoted Assad as saying at a meeting with Iranian officials.

"The American threats of launching an attack against Syria will not discourage Syria away from its principles ... or its fight against terrorism supported by some regional and Western countries, first and foremost the United States of America."

The comments come a day after US President Barack Obama said he would seek congressional consent before launching a military assault against Damascus – a decision likely to delay any strike for at least nine days.

Syria hailed the announcement as a "historic American retreat" on Sunday in a front page editorial in the country's state run al-Thawra newspaper.

"Obama announced yesterday, directly or through implication, the beginning of the historic American retreat," the paper said.

Meanwhile Syria's deputy foreign minister Faisal Mekdad denounced any armed Western move against his government.

"A decision to wage war on Syria is a criminal decision and an incorrect decision. We are confident that we will be victorious," he told reporters outside a hotel in Damascus.

Obama's approach has left in doubt whether the United States will carry through with the military steps that the president has already approved.

Backing from congress is by no means assured, with many Democrats and Republicans uneasy about intervening in a distant civil war in which 100,000 people have been killed over the past two and a half years according to UN figures.

Lawmakers for the most part welcomed Obama's decision but looked in no hurry to come back to Washington early from their summer recess, which lasts until September 9.