Cameron backs Obama's warning to Syria

British Prime Minister David Cameron has agreed with US president Barack Obama..

15:36 23 August 2012

British Prime Minister David Cameron has agreed with US president Barack Obama agree that the use, or even the threat of use, of chemical weapons in Syria is "completely unacceptable" and would warrant intervention. 

 

The two world leaders held a conference call which concluded that if President Bashar Assad made a move towards chemical warfare it "would force them to revisit their approach so far".

 

Thousands of civilians have been killed in the troubled Middle East state as rumours circulate that Assad may bomb rebels to stop them from advancing. 

 

The union between the UK and US comes after Obama previously warned that any movement of Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons would be a "red line" and an action which would have "consequences".

 

Cameron also contacted French president Francois Hollande to discuss the European perspective on the struggle and pledged that they will "work more closely to identify how they could bolster the opposition and help a potential transitional Syrian government after the inevitable fall of Assad".

 

A spokeswoman for Cameron released a statement to the press which read: "The Prime Minister restated the risk to the wider region posed by the fighting and the fact that regional and international cooperation was vital.

 

"He reinforced the need to work in close cooperation with Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and others on the issue."

 

The leaders also "firmly agreed that there was much more to do in order to stop the brutal killing of civilians and help put Syria on a path towards peace and stability".

 

Cameron and Obama also showed their support for the appointment of Lakhdar Brahimi as the new UN envoy, who they were confident would carry on the work of Kofi Annan in "seeking a credible political solution - as well as holding the regime to account for any further atrocities".