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G8 Northern Ireland summit: Syria set to top agenda

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David Cameron and Vladimir Putin disagree on Syria but aim to build on "common ground"

Syria conflict

The leaders of the G8 nations are to begin a summit in Northern Ireland, with Syria's conflict set to dominate.
UK PM David Cameron met Russian leader Vladimir Putin - Syria's key ally - on Sunday. They will each hold separate talks with President Barack Obama, who has indicated he will arm the rebels.
Mr Cameron, the host, is also keen to focus on global economic issues.
He hopes to oversee the launch of talks for an EU-US free trade deal and achieve progress on tax transparency.
The 39th Summit of the Group Of Eight (G8) will be held in Lough Erne, County Fermanagh, on Monday and Tuesday.

Analysis

image of Jonathan Marcus Jonathan Marcus BBC diplomatic correspondent
The differences between Russia's position on Syria and that of the West was thrown into stark relief by the Downing Street meeting between President Putin and the prime minister.
They are so deep that they look set to overshadow this G8 summit in Northern Ireland unless, as Mr Cameron hopes, the discussion can focus on bolstering chances for some kind of renewed peace talks in Geneva.
But that seems a vain hope. The balance of advantage on the ground in Syria seems to be shifting towards the government side.
Hezbollah's role in joining the fighting threatens a much broader contagion.
The Syria drama risks becoming a regional crisis, with countries such as France now describing this as a struggle between the rebels on one side and the Syrian regime, Hezbollah and Iran on the other.
Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the US and the UK will be represented.
Mr Cameron said he wanted "a meeting where we can look each other in the eye, cut through the obstacles and the opposition and generate the political will to solve the problems we face".
The prime minister is scheduled to meet Mr Obama ahead of the opening of the summit.
But it comes amid allegations, made in The Guardian newspaper on Monday, that Britain spied on delegates who attended two G20 meetings in London in 2009.
The newspaper said documents, leaked by the ex-CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden, showed that British intelligence monitored the computers of foreign politicians and officials.
British spies are accused of setting up internet cafes to read delegates' email traffic and penetrating the security on officials' BlackBerrys to monitor email messages and phone calls. Targets are alleged to have included the Turkish finance minister and possibly 15 others in his party.
The newspaper says the documents suggest the operation was sanctioned in principle at a senior level in the government of the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Observers say the revelations could cause tensions among delegates attending the G8, but Prime Minister Cameron refused to comment on them saying he "never comments on security and intelligence issues".
Disagreement Following his meeting with Mr Putin, Mr Cameron said it was no secret he and the Russian president had disagreements over Syria, but that they shared a common aim - to end the conflict.
Mr Putin said "blood is on the hands" of both the Syrian government and the rebels in the crisis and that Russia was not breaching any laws by supplying arms to the "legitimate government of Syria".
On Friday, the US announced it would supply some rebels with direct military aid after seeing evidence of chemical weapons use by Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Mr Cameron backed the lifting of EU arms sanctions against the rebels, but says no decision has been made on whether the UK will provide arms to them.
He told reporters in Lough Erne on Monday that all sides wanted to see the establishment of a peace process in Syria, and said it was right that the West should be "helping, assisting and advising" the opposition.
"We shouldn't accept what President Assad wants us to accept which is the only alternative to him is extremist terrorism. That isn't the case. That is insulting to the millions of Syrians who want a peaceful democratic future for their country and it's their side that we should be on," he told the BBC.
Two years of civil war in Syria has left an estimated 93,000 people dead.

“Start Quote

President Obama is loath to put the US out front, imposing its will on the world. This week will see if his more painstaking approach of weaving agreements and consensus can pay dividends”
image of Mark Mardell Mark Mardell North America editor
Mr Putin will meet separately with Mr Obama on Monday evening.
In addition to Syria, they may discuss nuclear arms reduction and counter-terrorism in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings.
One other major foreign affairs issue to be discussed at the summit will be the election at the weekend of Hassan Rouhani as the new Iranian president.
Protests Before the summit opens, Mr Cameron and Mr Obama will meet Italian PM Enrico Letta, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande to signal the start of talks on the EU-US free trade deal.
Mr Cameron has said the deal could be worth £10bn ($15.7bn; 11.8bn euros) to the UK, adding: "That's not some abstract statistic, these trade deals matter, because they mean more jobs, more choice for consumers and lower prices."
The formal talks on Monday are scheduled to cover the global economy.
David Cameron, 16 June in Belfast The EU-US free trade deal is a key issue for David Cameron
On Tuesday, Mr Cameron will hope to make progress on tax transparency after agreeing a deal on the issue over the weekend with British overseas territories and Crown dependencies.
He has made no secret of his desire to tackle tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance.
Tuesday will also cover counter-terrorism issues.
Mr Obama, on his first visit to Northern Ireland, is scheduled to deliver a public address on Monday morning at the Waterfront Hall centre in Belfast.
A White House spokesman said: "He will deliver remarks and engage with the people of Northern Ireland and highlight the hard work, dialogue and institutional development they have undertaken together to advance peace and prosperity."
Security in Northern Ireland is tight, as ever for the G8, which has been a magnet for protests in the past.
A four-mile (6.5km) long, 3m-high metal fence surrounds the golf resort where the summit takes place.
Some 8,000 police officers will be deployed for the summit.
Police are expecting an anti-G8 march in Enniskillen in County Fermanagh on Monday, with about 2,000 demonstrators.
Alistair Finlay, Assistant Chief Constable with the Police Service of Northern Ireland, said: "We are ready for all the eventualities that we may be faced with. Our indications are now that this is hopefully going to be a very peaceful time."

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