Syria will retaliate against any country that recognizes the opposition National Council, Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said.

Syria will retaliate against any country that recognizes the opposition National Council, Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said on Sunday.

"We will take significant measures against any country that recognizes this illegitimate council," Muallem told a press conference, as the newly formed opposition group lobbied for support in Cairo.

Damascus is a proponent of national dialogue and all opposition groups "are invited to participate for the future of Syria,” he added.

Al-Moallem statedd that "number of the Syrian figures who have been assassinated has reached 1110... It’s essential that we inform the international community about the existence of armed groups who perpetrate act of violence in Syria and kill huge number of martyrs."

"A lot of people in the West say 'this revolution is peaceful and the demonstrations are peaceful and don't recognize the existence of the armed terrorist groups whom they finance and smuggle weapons to them," he added.

Touching the Russian and Chinese stances, "I reiterate our thanks and appreciation for the Russian and Chinese stances at the UN Security Council, and we make constant contacts with the Russian leadership with regard to the situation in Syria,” Muallem went on to say.

Formed in Istanbul at the end of August, the Syrian National Council unites all the major known factions opposing President Bashar Assad's rule, both inside and outside Syria.

It includes the Local Coordination Committees, an activist network spurring protests in Syria, the long-banned Muslim Brotherhood as well as Kurdish and Assyrian groups.