Beirut  - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad vowed Thursday that his country will not abandon Lebanon's Shiite resistance movement Hezbollah.

Assad in an exclusive interview with Hezbollah-run al-Manar Television said "we do not see any interest in abandoning the resistance (Hezbollah). Our position toward the resistance against any occupation in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine is firm and has not changed."

Damascus/Istanbul - Syria will for the first time take up diplomatic relations with its neighbour Lebanon, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Thursday at a summit of four nations in Damascus.

The announcement, which was broadcast life on Arabic television, was made after French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged Assad to break the diplomatic silence.

The meeting on current regional conflicts was attended by Sarkozy, who is current president of the European Union and Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, president of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

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.

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

Damascus - Syria's President Bashar al-Assad is to begin a two-day visit to Iran on Saturday for talks over regional issues and Tehran's controversial nuclear programme.

Al-Assad's visit comes weeks after he said he was asked by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to use his close ties with Iran to help resolve the standoff over Iran's nuclear programme.

Al-Assad is expected to also discuss with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Syria's ongoing indirect peace talks with Israel under Turkish auspices.