DAVID Cameron has given a thinly veiled hint that those around Bashar al Assad could continue in office if they toppled the Syrian president.
At the end of the two-day G8 summit at picturesque Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, the Prime Minister made clear the West would not repeat the mistakes of Iraq when existing institutions were dismantled, a vacuum was created and chaos ensued.
He explained the leaders' pledge to maintain Syria's military forces, security services, state institutions and government departments following the fall of the Assad regime was meant to allay fears that history would not repeat itself.
"The message to those people who know in their heart they simply cannot imagine a Syria where this man continues to rule, having done such dreadful things to his people, they should know that's what the international community agreed: a future that won't involve Assad but a future where the institutions of the Syrian state will be maintained," Mr Cameronsaid.
He insisted: "It is unthinkable Assad can play any part in the future of his country. He has blood on his hands. He has used chemical weapons."
While the summit was supposed to be dominated by the three Ts of tax, trade and transparency, the announcement by US President Barack Obama last week that America was ready to arm the rebels, guaranteed Syria would top the agenda, particularly in light of Russia's support for the Assad regime.
Mr Cameron outlined an agreed seven-point plan, which included extra humanitarian aid of £1 bil-lion and a United Nations-led investigation into the alleged use of chemical weapons and suggested it had not, as some feared, ended up as G7 versus G1.
In a high-stakes discussion over dinner on Monday night, Vladimir Putin, while he consented to broad proposals for the future governance arrangements of Syria, refused to agree to the removal of its leader. He also blocked proposals for a Geneva peace conference next month, making clear any attempt to stop the Syrian president from attending would be unacceptable.
In his end-of-summit press conference, the Russian president referred to the Assad regime as Syria's "legitimate government" and stressed Russian deals to supply arms to it were "legitimate contracts".
Mr Putin also urged the PM away from taking the "dangerous step" of arming the Syrian rebels, some of whom he insisted were the same extremist elements who brutally killed the British soldier Lee Rigby.
During the summit, Mr Cameron conspicuously steered his language away from any emphasis on arming the rebels but towards "helping and advising" the anti-Assad forces. He knows that at Westminster he would, at present, have difficulty in getting a vote through Parliament.
Despite there being no date for the peace conference, Mr Cameron sounded upbeat and took heart from Mr Putin signing the G8 communique, which mentioned the move towards a "transitional government" in Damascus. The PM described this as "an important step forward".
The communique stated the G8 nations – the UK, US, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and Russia – were "committed to achieving a political solution to the crisis based on a vision for a united, inclusive and democratic Syria". It endorsed plans to restart peace talks in Geneva "as soon as possible" and said they should begin with both sides agreeing on "a transitional governing body with full executive powers, formed by mutual consent".
The PM insisted the communique contained details he would not have expected just 48 hours ago and said its contents were "turning up the pace on the political change that is needed in Syria".
According to UN estimates, 4.25 million people have been displaced and 90,000 killed since the Syrian conflict began in March 2011.
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