Video: David Cameron: 'Syria needs transition at the top to avoid civil war' The Prime Minister said Bashar al-Assad's had deliberately broken the deadline for the peace plan showed saying that further action was needed. Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has secured commitments from Damascus to pull its troops out of cities and halt all violence to end 13 months of bloodshed in Syria Mr Cameron said: "There is no doubt that the deadline that was put in place by the Annan plan was breached yesterday by Assad." This is a plan, remember, that is not just backed by not just the enthusiasts for transition in Syria, but by China and Russia and everyone else as well. He added: "The message is simple if we want to avoid an increasing bloody civil war, and a revolt from the bottom, then we need to see transition from the top"