President Assad of Syria and his Belarus counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, have ended talks in Damascus with an agreement to promote economic and military cooperation.

During Mr Lukashenko's three-day visit, the two countries signed protocols covering a wide range of areas, including tourism, taxation and trade.

Officials said Belarus had agreed to develop a tractor assembly plant in the Syrian city of Aleppo and to buy Syrian cotton, wheat and tobacco.

On Tuesday, President Lukashenko said his country was willing to help Syria modernise and service its Soviet-made weapons.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service