Brussels, 17/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - British Prime Minister David Cameron, who is hosting the G8 summit, has said he is determined to bring pressure to bear for the conference on peace in Syria to be held.
Cameron said that no decision had been made on whether to supply weapons to the Syrian opposition but that there was a need to set up the peace conference and transition so that the people in Syria might have a government that represents it, rather than a government that slaughters it. Nevertheless, the peace conference now seems very unlikely, due in particular to divergences between Washington and Moscow. Russia's President Vladimir Putin - whose country is arming Bashar al-Assad's regime - warned the Western countries in London on Sunday not to supply weapons to the “organ-eating” Syrian opposition. Cameron said they should be clear and that he was concerned, like everyone, about certain elements of the Syrian opposition - who are extremists, who support terrorism and who are a great danger for the world. He went on that the question is what should be done. His argument, he said, is that the idea should not be accepted that the only alternative to Assad is terrorism and violence. He added that they should be at the side of the Syrians who want a democratic and peaceful future for their country - without the man who is using chemical weapons against them. Syria was due to dominate the first day of the G8 summit in Northern Ireland on Monday, with a delicate meeting between Barack Obama and Putin. The US and Russia are trying to organise an international peace conference, named Geneva II - which will bring together representatives from the Syrian regime and opposition to try and find a way out of the conflict. (LC/transl.fl)