Cameron cuts short his Cornwall holiday to chair Syria crisis meeting as Assad warns that Western military intervention would be like 'another Vietnam and end in failure'

President Assad warned that any U.S. military intervention in Syria would end in failure just like Vietnam as he denied that his forces have used chemical weapons.

Britain and the U.S. are set to launch missile strikes after the deaths of as many as 1,300 people in the attacks.

Russia - a close ally of Syria - called for the U.S. to show restraint as President Obama faced growing pressure to retaliate against dictator Bashar Al-Assad.