Humanitarian issues top agenda during Syria peace talks, says UN envoy

Syrian regime and opposition forces in Geneva discussed humanitarian issues in the first tentative meetings, the UN mediator has said.

Lakhdar Brahimi said getting an aid convoy into the war-shattered city of Homs was discussed on Saturday, with prisoner releases on the agenda for Sunday.

According to the BBC, Brahimi said he was trying to build confidence by broaching humanitarian issues first.

He said that the situation is extremely complex and they were moving in half steps.

Brahimi added that by trying to make progress on humanitarian issues, he was aiming to create an atmosphere that would eventually enable advances on the 2012 Geneva I communique, which set out a blueprint for peace talks, the report said.

He said the common ground between the parties 'should be to discuss about everything without any selectivity, no preconditions and no hidden agendas'.

He however accused the coalition delegation of harbouring 'personal hatreds towards the government for whatever reasons'.