Syrian peace talks set to begin without opposition

The Syrian government delegation to UN-brokered peace talks arrived in Geneva on Friday afternoon even as the attendance of key opposition figures remained unclear.

"The government delegation, headed by [Syria's UN ambassador] Bashar al-Jaafari, has arrived to the Geneva airport," a source told the AFP news agency. 

According to the source, the delegation includes 16 Syrian government figures, including two members of parliament as well as representatives from the foreign ministry. 

Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Moqdad will oversee talks from Damascus. 

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura will launch the talks on Friday afternoon with a meeting with the government delegation. 

"He will continue meetings with other participants in the talks and with representatives of the civil society subsequently," the UN said in a statement. 

The High Negotiations Committee, an alliance of mainstream Syrian opposition groups, met on Friday for the fourth day in the Saudi capital. The HNC has yet to announce whether it will join the talks. 

Syria's conflict erupted in March 2011 with anti-government protests and evolved into a complex civil war that has killed more than 260,000 people. 

Previous efforts at putting a stop to the violence have failed, but world powers have thrown their weight behind this round of talks, the first in two years.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, whose country has provided military backing for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government, on Thursday night voiced pessimism over the prospects for peace. 

"It's our hope to see these negotiations succeed as quickly as possible," Rouhani said at the end of his two-day visit to France.

"But I would be surprised if they succeed very soon, because in Syria there are groups fighting the central government but also fighting each other. There is interference in the internal affairs of Syria.

"The solution should be political, but it will be difficult to arrive at a conclusion in the space of a few weeks, a few meetings. That would be too optimistic, because the Syrian question is too complicated."