'No postponement' of UN peace talks

The UN yesterday said that there was no postponement of Syria peace talks due to start Friday in Switzerland, despite uncertainty around whether the main opposition umbrella group would attend.

The UN chief negotiator in the almost five-year-old civil war, Staffan de Mistura, issued a message to the Syrian people saying that the planned discussions "cannot fail".

There is "no postponement from our side," Khawla Mattar, spokeswoman for the UN-mediated talks between the Syrian government and opposition in Geneva due to begin Friday, told AFP.

Opposition sources meeting in Riyadh for the third day said it appeared increasingly unlikely the talks would open as planned.

Later, a senior opposition delegate said they have postponed until today a decision on whether to attend peace talks due to start in Geneva the same day.

The Saudi-backed group has asked for "clarifications" after the UN issued invitations to other opposition figures. It also wants assurances from the international community that it will move to end regime attacks on civilians and allow humanitarian aid.

As uncertainty grows over the talks, Russia yesterday said it wanted to hold an international meeting on Syria -- including key players from the West and the Middle East -- in Munich on February 11.

The planned negotiations are part of a UN-backed plan, agreed in November in Vienna, that envisages talks followed by a transitional government, a new constitution, and elections within 18 months.

A source close to the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus said its delegation, headed by envoy to the UN Bashar al-Jaafari, would be arriving in Geneva today as planned.

The roadmap is the most ambitious plan yet to end the conflict which has killed more than 260,000 people and forced millions from their homes.

Meanwhile, a monitoring group yesterday said suspected Russian air strikes killed at least 54 civilians, including a number of children, in rebel- and jihadist-held areas of Syria in the past 24 hours.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said strikes occurred in Deir Ezzor, Aleppo and Homs provinces.

Russian backing has helped Assad's forces make significant advances in recent months.

The Observatory said last week that Russian strikes in Syria had killed more than 1,000 civilians, including around 200 children, since September.