Syria slams West's 'aggressive' posture

"The aggressive American and Western statements against Syria are escalating in a scandalous manner" read a foreign ministry statement that was issued ahead of a UN Security Council session on the unrest in Syria.

The statement comes a day after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and EU President Herman Van Rompuy blamed the Syrian government for the ongoing unrest in the country.

The Syrian foreign ministry dismissed the statements as "ridiculous" and insisted that "armed terrorist groups" are behind the recent events in Syria.

Damascus "will continue to defend itself against terrorism and intends to foil this policy of sowing chaos adopted by the United States and the West", the statement further read.

The UN Security Council is set to discuss an Arab League-backed draft resolution calling for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to hand over power to his deputy.

Meanwhile, Russia has insisted that it will use its veto power against the draft resolution.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March. Many people have lost their lives in the country over the past 10 months. Damascus says over 2,000 security forces have been killed in the unrest.

The West and the Syrian opposition accuse the government of killing the protesters. But Damascus blames ''outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups'' for the unrest, insisting that it is being orchestrated from abroad.