Cameron denies compromising on bid to rid Syria's Assad
Prime Minister David Cameron has told ITV News he is not compromising on his drive to remove Bashar al-Assad from Syrian power as he prepares to push for a new diplomatic strategy to end the nation's civil war.
Mr Cameron will discuss Syria in face-to-face talks with several world leaders, including Iranian president Hasan Rouhani, at the 70th anniversary meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The Syrian conflict - which has seen more than 250,000 killed, left Europe struggling to deal with a huge influx of refugees and enabled the rise of Islamic State extremists - is set to dominate the annual UN assembly.
Mr Cameron appears to have softened his stance by bidding for a peace settlement that will see President Assad temporarily remain in power until a transfer is agreed to a new regime.
But the Prime Minister told ITV News' Washington Correspondent Robert Moore he had not compromised on his original goal.
"What we are saying, as we've always said, is you need, on top of the military campaign against Isil, a political strategy and a peace settlement where you have a transition in Syria from Assad to something else," he said.
"That's always been the case, it needs to happen and that's still the case."
Mr Cameron said Assad had no part to play in the future of Syria.
Mr Cameron said international efforts to take on the militant threat of Islamic State (Isil) had to be "stepped up" to bring about peace.
"We want a Syria without Isil and without Assad because there is no future for the Syrian people with one or the other," he said.
Mr Cameron will attend several sessions on issues such as climate change, peacekeeping and the fight against Islamic State while in New York.
But he will not join Iran's Mr Rouhani, US president Barack Obama, Russian president Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping in making a keynote speech, with Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond instead speaking for the UK on Syria.
The Prime Minister's decision not to speak brought criticism from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.