UN 'sorry' as Syria talks break off in failure

The UN's Syria envoy said he was "very, very sorry" today as peace talks in Geneva broke off with no progress made and no date set for a third round.
Just weeks after the warring parties sat down for the first time to seek a political settlement to the three-year conflict, a second round ended in acrimony.
"I'm very, very sorry," UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi told reporters in Geneva as he announced the break-off in talks.
"I think it is better that every side goes back and reflects, and takes their responsibility: do they want this process to continue or not?"

With no guarantee the parties will return to the negotiating table, the death toll continued to mount in Syria where more than 136,000 have died and millions have been driven from their homes.
A monitoring group said this week more than 5,000 people had been killed since the talks began on January 22.

And the UN raised the alarm over Syrian air raids in the Qalamun mountains near the Lebanese border, as thousands fled the opposition-held town of Yabrud amid fears of a ground assault.
In Geneva, the rivals have seemed to agree on only one thing this week: that the negotiations were stalled.

"The regime is not serious... I'm very sorry to say there is nothing positive we can take from this," opposition spokesman Louay Safi told reporters after the talks.
The head of the regime's negotiating team Bashar Jaafari described the other side as "amateurs", blaming the opposition's backer the US for "trying its best to undermine the whole process."
Brahimi noted that the two sides at least had agreed on an agenda for future talks -- if they take place -- something they failed to do throughout the week. "I very much hope there will be a third round," Brahimi said.

The opposition says the focus must be on creating a transitional government, without President Bashar al-Assad.
The regime representatives have insisted Assad's position is non-negotiable and refused to discuss anything beyond the "terrorism" it blames on its opponents and their foreign backers.
Brahimi said if the sides returned, they would discuss violence and terrorism first, then the transitional governing body (TGB), followed by national institutions and finally national reconciliation and national debate.