Khawla Mattar

Syria's main opposition group said Feb. 2 that it will not attend a planned afternoon meeting with the U.N. special envoy Staffan de Mistura, adding further doubts about the prospects for peace talks in Switzerland.

"There is no meeting with de Mistura," said Farah Atassi, member of the Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee (HNC).  

Members of the main Syrian opposition group said Feb. 1 that they plan to give U.N. Special Envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura a "roadmap" for implementation of their humanitarian demands on Syria that they say must happen before they formally join indirect peace talks with a government delegation in Geneva.

Talks between the UN special envoy for Syria and government representatives tentatively planned for Feb. 1 11:00 am (1000 GMT) in Geneva have been "rescheduled" to allow talks with the opposition first, the UN said.

Long-anticipated peace talks that are projected to help bring an end to a five-year-old war in Syria finally started in Geneva on Jan. 29, albeit with many issues left uncertain and unexplained.