Syrian peace talks stalled due to 'opposition representation'

Syrian peace talks scheduled to begin today on the 25th January were stalled partly over the question of who would represent the opponents of President Bashar al-Assad, Reuters reports.

According to reports U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he expected clarity within a day or two, and expressed support for the United Nations envoy Staffan de Mistura.

The talks, meant to begin on Monday in Geneva, were to be the first talks in two years to attempt to end the 5-year-long civil war.

According to Reuters, the talks have been held up by international disagreement over who should be invited from the opposition, as rebels also want an end to air strikes and government sieges of territory they hold, as well as the release of detainees.

According to reports Russia says opposition figures it calls terrorists should be barred from the talks, and wants to include groups like the Kurds who control wide areas of northern Syria, whereas regional heavyweight Turkey strongly opposes inviting the Kurds.

Syria's civil war has killed more than 250,000 people and driven more than 10 million from their homes since it started in 2011.

Since the last peace conference was held in early 2014, Islamic State fighters have declared a caliphate across much of Syria and Iraq, and the war has drawn in most world powers, with the United States leading air strikes against the militants since 2014 and Russia launching a separate air campaign against enemies of its ally Assad last year.

According to various reports, the peace conference, if it takes place, will be the third since the war began and the first convened by de Mistura, after his two predecessors quit in apparent frustration after presiding over conferences in Geneva that yielded no significant progress.

So far, opposition figures have refused to back off its demand that Assad leave power and the president refusing to step down.