International powers agreed a Syria transition plan Saturday with a unity government to include members of the present administration, although envoy Kofi Annan said he doubted Syrians would “select people with blood on their hands”.

International powers have agreed that a transitional government should be set up in Syria to end the bloodshed there but left open the question of what part President Bashar al-Assad might play in the process.

A crunch meeting in Geneva agreed that the transitional government “could include members of the present government and the opposition and other groups and shall be formed on the basis of mutual consent,” the International envoy for Syria crisis, Kofi Annan said.

Peace envoy Kofi Annan said after talks in Geneva on Saturday that the government should include members of Assad’s administration and the Syrian opposition and pave the way for free elections.

“It is for the people to come to a political agreement, but time is running out,” Annan said in concluding remarks. “We need rapid steps to reach agreement. The conflict must be resolved through peaceful dialogue and negotiations.”

Annan called the meeting after all but admitting the failure of a six-point peace plan he drafted at the behest of the United Nations and Arab League, and which has largely been ignored by the Assad government. He stressed that the transition must be led by Syrians and meets their legitimate aspirations.

“No one should be in any doubt as to the extreme dangers posed by the conflict - to Syrians, to the region, and to the world,” he said in opening remarks.

Annan urged the International Community at Geneva meeting on Syria to “Work together, and act together to secure your common interests. But first and foremost do so to secure interests of Syrian people”

Annan said that Syria needs “A political process, a government of transition, of national unity, including women & men who are non-reproachable.”

“History is a somber judge – and it will judge us all harshly if we prove incapable of taking right path today” Annan told the meeting in UN Geneva.

“You are here because there are things you can do. Each of you, in different ways, has influence over the conflict… We are here to agree actions (all) must take to turn objectives into reality, including consequences for non-compliance” Kofi Annan told Geneva meeting.

Asked what the transition plan spelled for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Annan said: “The document makes it clear that we have provided guidelines and principles to assist the Syrian parties as they move ahead with the transition and establish a transition government and go through changes required.

The future of President al-Assad “will be left to them.” Annan added.
Pressed if members from the regime who have engaged in repression would be part of the interim government, he said: “People with blood on their hands are hopefully not the only Syrians.

“I would doubt that Syrians… would select people with blood on their hands to lead them.”
Sergei Lavrov, Russian foreign minister, said he was “delighted” with the result as it meant no foreign solution was being imposed on Syria.

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, took a different perspective from Lavrov, saying the communique sent a clear message to President al-Assad that he must step down. Clinton though said that the US would be taking the Geneva Syria plan to the UN Security Council.

“Assad will still have to go,” Clinton told a news conference after the meeting ended. “What we have done here is to strip away the fiction that he and those with blood on their hands can stay in power.” she added.

Rebels and opposition politicians outside the country are likely to reject the presence of President Bashar al-Assad, his family or his top aides in any transitional government.

The foreign ministers of the council’s five permanent members - Russia, the United States, China, France and Britain - all attended along with Turkey, Kuwait, Qatar, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

Notably uninvited were Iran, Syria’s closest regional ally, and Saudi Arabia, a foe of both Damascus and Tehran and leading backer of the rebel forces opposing al-Assad.

The Syrian government and opposition were also both not represented in Geneva on Saturday.