Moscow - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday accused the West of spreading "total disinformation" in an effort to isolate Russia after its conflict with Georgia, and pledged to expand military ties with Moscow.

"On this question, we fully support Russia ... Georgia started this crisis, but the West is blaming Russia," al-Assad said in an interview with the business newspaper Kommersant ahead of his arrival in Moscow for two-days of meetings Wednesday.

Al-Assad said the west was guilty of "total disinformation and distortion of facts" during the 10-day clash of Georgian and Russian forces over the separatist region of South Ossetia.

Beirut- A Syrian-Lebanese summit scheduled for August 13 and 14 is to focus on the establishment for the first time of diplomatic relations including the opening of embassies between the two countries, a Lebanese government source said Tuesday.

"The establishment of diplomatic relations between Damascus and Beirut, and the opening of embassies in each other's country for the first time in their history will be at the focus of the discussions between the two state leaders," said the Lebanese official, who requested anonymity.

Damascus - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is scheduled to pay a two-day visit

Beirut  - Syria has confirmed for the first time the weekend assassination of a top army officer who was also a military adviser to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, Lebanese media reported Thursday.

"(Mohammed) Suleiman, an officer of the Syrian Arab Army, has been assassinated," Butheina Shaaban, a political adviser to Assad, was quoted as saying.

"An investigation is under way," she added.

On Sunday, Arab media reported that Suleiman had been murdered in northern Syria.

The Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily al-Hayat quoted "informed sources" in London as saying that a senior Syrian officer had been found dead.

Damascus - Syrian presidential sources have denied Wednesday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will be vacationing in Turkey following his talks with officials there.

Damascus (Syria), August 3 : Architectural historians are ramping up efforts to restore Damascus''s historic bathhouses, which experts say are crumbling and in danger of disappearing altogether.

The baths in Damascus are among the most famous in the region. Many date back to Roman times and flourished in the Umayyad caliphate of the seventh and eighth centuries AD.

According to historians, that bathhouses are an important part of Syrian history.

They were used for political activities, as no one feared a meeting held there would be placed under surveillance. On occasion, political leaders would be assassinated in bathhouses, including princes from the medieval Mamluk dynasty.