Syria's President is warning America to expect retaliation if it launches air strikes against Syria.
In an interview with a US TV network, President Assad said "you should expect everything" and he also denied his regime was responsible for a chemical weapons attack last month.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry insists Assad was behind the attack in Damascus and thinks a response is necessary. Mr Kerry has been in London for talks with Foreign Secretary William Hague.
He said the international community has to take action but a prolonged effort is not needed in the country:
"We're not talking about war. We're not going to war.
"We will not have people at risk in that way. We will be able to hold Bashir Assad accountable without engaging in troops on the ground.
"The world has stood together against the use of chemical weapons and we need to hear an appropriate outcry as we think back on those moments of history where large numbers of people have been killed because the world was silent.
"All of us agree, not one dissenter, that Assad's deplorable use of chemical weapons, which we know killed hundreds of innocent people including at least 426 children on this occasion, this one occasion, this crosses an international global red line."
The Foreign Secretary said we shouldn't trust everything President Assad says:
"We mustn't fall into the trap of attaching too much credibility to the words of President Assad, who has presided over so many war crimes and crimes against humanity, and shown such a murderous disregard for the welfare of his own people.
"This week the European Union, the Arab League and many of the countries of the G20 have called for a strong international response and it is to the credit of the United States that once again they are prepared to lead such efforts.
"Our government supports the objective of ensuring that there can be no impunity for the first use of chemical warfare in the 21st century.
"As an international community we must deter further attacks and hold those responsible for them accountable."
Revd Nadim Nassar is the Director of the Awareness Foundation and the world's only Syrian Anglican priest. He told Premier's Marcus Jones on the News Hour he's skeptical about a 'limited' air strike in the country:
In his weekly address on Saturday, President Obama made the case for "limited and targeted" military intervention to hold the Assad regime accountable. The US President is also appearing on six separate U.S. TV networks later in a bid to boost public support for a military strike. And US politicians will start discussing President Obama's resolution to launch a "limited, narrow" strike.
American Author, preacher and former spiritual advisor to President Bill Clinton, Tony Campolo, tells Premier what he would say to US politicians voting on military action:
Meanwhile, a village in Syria at the roots of Christianity has reportedly been seized by rebels including al-Qaeda-linked fighters.
Maaloula is one of the few places in the world where the ancient language of Aramaic is still spoken and is in the process of applying for world heritage status. Syrian activists claim that on Sunday, Islamic extremists including the Jabhat al-Nusra, or Nusra Front, took control of the village, which is northeast of the capital Damascus. Rami Abdurrahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told the Associated Press that rebel forces moved into the village late on Saturday and that the army pulled back to the outskirts. He said pro-government fighters are in hiding inside the village and that rebel groups (including the Qalamon Liberation Front) are in total control of Maaloula.
However, state media in Syria is claiming the opposite, saying that the army is winning and that all churches in the village are safe.