Nations set plan on crisis in Syria

World leaders attending a meeting in Vienna on Saturday said they had agreed to speed up efforts to end the war in Syria, as news of the violent terrorist attacks in Paris overshadowed the diplomatic talks.

Key differences include what, if any role Syrian President Bashar Assad should play in any transition government and which groups fighting him should be grouped as terrorists.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday (Sunday NZ Time) condemned Friday’s (Saturday NZT) deadly attacks by Islamic State in Paris but said the West’s “flawed” policies in Syria, especially that of France, was partly to blame.

That government would then draft a new constitution and an election, overseen by the United Nations, would take place within 18 months.

These countries agreed that the United Nations would lead consultations to determine the modalities of the ceasefire, which will not involve operations against the Islamic State, Al-Nusra Front and other groups yet to be determined.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad sought to exploit the Paris attacks for political gain Friday, calling on France to change policies that he says have contributed to the “spread of terrorism”.

“Wrong polices adopted by western states, particularly France, towards events in the region, and its ignorance of the support of a number of its allies to terrorists are reasons behind the expansion of terrorism”, President al-Assad said, pointing out to the importance of adopting new policies and taking active procedures to stop support for terrorists logistically or politically in order to overcome terrorism.

Assad said he had “warned against what would happen in Europe for the past three years”. The Islamic State has spread in Iraq, he said, because Assad sent the country spiraling into chaos by attacking legitimate protesters to his rule.

Speaking ahead of today’s meeting, Mr Cameron said: “It’s become even more clear that our safety and security depends on degrading and ultimately destroying Isil whether it’s in Iraq or Syria”.

“They are the ones left out in the cold right now”, he said.

Since March 2011, Syria has been beset by foreign-backed militancy, which has so far claimed the lives of over 250,000 people and displaced millions of others.

“The events in Paris underscore the threat that Daesh poses to all of us”, he later told reporters, referring by an alternate name to ISIS, which claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks.

Those differences appeared to be put aside at least temporarily as the meeting started.

Witnesses said that the gunmen in the Paris attacks had blamed France’s military intervention in Syria against Islamic State (IS) extremists.

“But it is really important that the global community comes together at this particular point to deal with Isil”.

A Syrian legislator has praised parts of an incomplete worldwide plan for ending Syria’s conflict. Europe and Syria’s neighbours, meanwhile, are struggling to cope with the worst migrant crisis since WWII.