Video: David Cameron: 'Assad is bent on civil war' Mr Cameron said that President Bashar al-Assad's regime despite promising to honour a ceasefire due to come into force on Thursday morning, it was using it as an opportunity to inflict crushing blows on the opposition. Speaking from Jakarta in Indonesia, he said: "We estimate that 1,000 people have died in the last week, 300 over the Easter weekend. We want to achieve a negotiated end to the Syrian crisis and avoid full-scale civil war. But Assad seems bent on doing precisely the opposite. It is clear that the world needs to redouble its efforts to stop the killing and intensify our support to those who oppose Assad's savagery. This is a decisive moment. The UN security council now has a clear responsibility to throw its full weight behind Kofi Annan's plan and to insist that it is implemented.