First meeting with Syrian delegation proved useful, says UN envoy

Geneva, Nov 30 : United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura on Wednesday termed as "very useful, constructive and professional" his first meeting with a Syrian government delegation.

"I just had a long, but very useful in my opinion, meeting with the delegation of the government of Syria," de Mistura said after meeting the delegation head Bashaar al-Jaafari in a hotel here.

The Syrian government delegation arrived in Geneva on Wednesday for the latest round of peace talks taking place there this week - a day later than expected.

The delegation delayed its departure for the talks, which began on Tuesday, due to the newly-unified Syrian opposition's insistence that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad step down.

De Mistura described the atmosphere of his meeting with Jaafari as "constructive and professional".

"We decided that we should continue having this meeting in the UN Headquarters in Geneva, this will be the first official meeting that we will be holding with the delegation of the Syrian government, and then we will continue tomorrow as well," he said.

The UN official also told reporters that he is intending to have both sides stay on in Geneva to continue the meetings next week, after a possible weekend off.

"What is important is that we have an ongoing process of discussions," he stressed.

The proposal to hold direct discussions between both delegations for the first time are still under discussion, de Mistura said.

Meanwhile, the current round of UN-mediated peace negotiations in Geneva between the Syrian government and the opposition have been extended to December 15, satellite news channel al-Arabiya tweeted on Wednesday, quoting unnamed sources.

The peace talks began on Tuesday.