UN brings Syria peace talks under one roof

Negotiators for Syria's combatants arrived at a UN complex for peace talks yesterday amid expectations the rival teams will be encouraged to hold face-to-face discussions, in what would be a small breakthrough in efforts to end the six-year-old war.

One diplomat said UN mediator Staffan de Mistura was expected to try to bring the two sides together, but it was not clear whether he would succeed.

Previous rounds of talks have gone almost nowhere, with de Mistura shuttling between hotels and meeting different groups separately. But for the first time Syria's opposition has sent a unified delegation, raising the possibility of direct talks across one table.