Syria\'s President Bashar al-Assad warned Monday that European powers would \"pay the price\" if they sent weapons to rebel forces seeking to topple him. \"If the Europeans deliver weapons, then Europe\'s backyard will become terrorist, and Europe will pay the price for it,\" he was quoted as saying by German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Assad also denied US, British and French claims his forces had used chemical weapons. The conflict in Syria was set to dominate a G8 summit starting in Northern Ireland on Monday.