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TURKEY - SYRIA - CONFLICT - DAVUTOGLU - TLASS

TURKEY - SYRIA - CONFLICT - DAVUTOGLU - TLASS
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (R) shakes hands with defected Syrian General Manaf Tlass before a Ramadan fast-breaking dinner in Ankara, on July 26, 2012. Defected Syrian general Manaf Tlass said in comments published today he is working on a plan to end the conflict, save Syria from sectarianism and rebuild the country without Bashar al-Assad playing a role. In an interview with Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, Tlass said that the roadmap he is working on would involve "honourable" Syrians, including members of the present regime whose hands are "not stained with blood." Tlass, whose defection this month was hailed in the West as a key setback for Assad, stressed that regime members whose "hands are not stained with blood must not be uprooted." "We must preserve the state," he said, but added: "I do not see Syria with Bashar al-Assad" playing a role. The general who once shared a close friendship with Assad said the president would have remained in power if "he had not taken this security path ... but security forces disrupted his views." AFP PHOTO / ADEM ALTAN
Adem ALTAN / AFP