Syrian opposition casts doubt on peace talks

The Syrian opposition cast doubt on whether it would go to peace talks planned for Friday — throwing UN diplomatic efforts into question as it accused the US of adopting unacceptable Iranian and Russian ideas for solving the conflict.

The Saudi-backed opposition was meeting to decide whether to attend the talks which UN envoy Staffan de Mistura aims to open in Geneva on Friday, ushering in months of indirect negotiations between delegates in separate rooms.

Opposition official Asaad al-Zoubi told Arabic news channel Al-Hadath that he was pessimistic.