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| Syria threatens to quit Geneva talks | Syria threatens to quit Geneva talks |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The Syrian government delegation has threatened to quit peace talks in Geneva if "serious" discussions do not begin by Saturday. | The Syrian government delegation has threatened to quit peace talks in Geneva if "serious" discussions do not begin by Saturday. |
| Foreign Minister Walid Muallem issued the threat on Syrian state media after his team held talks with UN negotiator Lakhdar Brahimi. | Foreign Minister Walid Muallem issued the threat on Syrian state media after his team held talks with UN negotiator Lakhdar Brahimi. |
| Mr Brahimi is due to meet the Syrian opposition separately later on Friday. | Mr Brahimi is due to meet the Syrian opposition separately later on Friday. |
| Correspondents say the talks have been troubled from the start, as both sides have deeply entrenched positions. | Correspondents say the talks have been troubled from the start, as both sides have deeply entrenched positions. |
| Syria's civil conflict has claimed well over 100,000 lives, the UN says. | |
| The violence has also driven 9.5 million people from their homes, creating a major humanitarian crisis within Syria and for its neighbours. | |
| Setback | |
| This is the third day of the Geneva conference, but the first in which negotiations get under way in earnest. | |
| There were initial hopes of a joint meeting between the two sides, but later it emerged that Mr Brahimi would hold talks with each separately. | |
| Both sides blame the other for this setback. | |
| The Damascus delegation complained about recent remarks made by the opposition chief, Ahmed Jarba, who said President Bashar al-Assad and his regime were a "political corpse" that could not be part of Syria's future. | |
| For its part, the opposition said it would not meet government delegates face-to-face until they signed a written commitment accepting the Geneva communique drafted 18 months ago, which calls for a transitional government. |