Walid al-Muallem, Syria's foreign minister, has said the European Union's reaction to President Bashar al-Assad's speech on Monday showed it wanted to "plant strife and chaos" in the country.

Addressing journalists in Damascus on Wednesday, Muallem said his country - which has seen three months of protests against Assad's rule - would not accept demands from "outside Syria".

"None outside the Syrian family have the right to dictate or to ask. The Syrian affair is an internal affair and any intervention from outside is rejected," Muallem said.

Syria has come under increasing international pressure and sanctions over its brutal crackdown on a growing protest movement.

In his speech, in which he firmly backed Assad, Muallem said Syria regarded EU sanctions as a "war" against the country.