Syria talks to go into third round, opposition says

GENEVA

Brahimi just told the opposition the talks will continue and there will be a third round," opposition negotiator Ahmad Jakal said. AP Photo

International mediator Lakhdar Brahimi plans to take Syrian peace talks into a third round, an opposition official said on Friday, as negotiations neared the end of a second round with no sign of progress.
 
"Brahimi just told us the talks will continue and there will be a third round, but he did not set a date," opposition negotiator Ahmad Jakal told Reuters.
 
Brahimi told the opposition that there would be a further session of talks on Saturday, but he did not say if he would meet the two delegations together or separately, Jakal added.

'No progress' in peace talks: Syrian foes

A fresh round of UN-brokered peace talks between Syria's government and opposition has made no progress, the two sides said Friday.
 
"We deeply regret that this round did not make any progress," Syria's deputy foreign minister, Faisal Muqdad told reporters as both sides traded blame over the deadlock in the Geneva talks, the second round of which began Monday.
 
Speaking separately just minutes earlier, opposition spokesman Louay Safi complained about the other side's failure to budge.
 
"The negotiations have reached an impasse," Safi said.
 
"If this situation does not change .. It means that the negotiations are not moving towards a political solution. We are now awaiting serious progress." As they did during the debut round of talks in January, the Syrian foes have spent this week wrangling over what should come top of the agenda, blocking all negotiation.
 
The opposition insists peace talks must centre on Syria's political transition from one-party rule under President Bashar al-Assad.
 
But government negotiators have refused to discuss a 24-point plan by the opposition to craft a transition body to halt violence and pave the way for elections.