Image copyright AFP Image caption Some 9.5 million people have been displaced since the uprising began in March 2011 
 
 Syrian peace talks being held in Geneva have broken up early amid opposition demands that the government address the question of a transition of power. 
 
 Opposition spokesmen said they wanted the Syrian government to have time to come up with a proposal on the issue. 
 
 The talks are at an impasse over the issue, with division over the future role of President Bashar al-Assad. 
 
 UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi also said that there had been no breakthrough on getting aid to the city of Homs. 
 
 'Not co-operating' 
 
 Government and opposition delegates held a joint session with Mr Brahimi on Tuesday morning. 
 
 On previous days that has been followed by separate consultations with Mr Brahimi and each of the two delegations in the afternoon, but on Tuesday the opposition delegation said this would not happen. 
 
 "The regime is not co-operating on any subject, not on humanitarian issues and not on a transitional governing body," opposition delegate Rima Fleihan told the AFP agency. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi says it is "not easy" to get aid in Homs 
 
 Another opposition delegate, Murhaf Jouejati, told Associated Press the delay would give the government time "to come out with their own vision for a future Syria". 
 
 Addressing a news conference later in the day, Mr Brahimi said: "We have not had any breakthrough but we are still at it and this is good enough as far as I am concerned." 
 
 He said that he had cancelled the meeting "with no request or pressure from either side". 
 
 Mr Brahimi also said that a convoy bearing humanitarian aid was still waiting to enter besieged parts of the city of Homs. 
 
 He said the government had not yet granted permission, adding that "we haven't given up on that". 
 
 The government has offered to allow women and children to leave opposition-held areas, and to grant safe passage to men as well if they receive a list of their names. 
 
 But the opposition has dismissed it as a ruse to displace and arrest its supporters. 
 
 Western diplomats have said that if aid is not allowed in by next week they will draft a resolution at the UN Security Council to put pressure on the government and its ally, Russia. 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption Fighting between government and rebel forces is meanwhile raging on in Syria 
 
 Some 2,500 people have been trapped in the Old City of Homs since June 2012, without access to food and medical supplies. 
 
 On Tuesday, the governor of Homs province said a UN official was in contact with rebel fighters in besieged parts of the city to try to get civilians evacuated, while the UN's World Food Programme said it was ready to deliver a month of rations once it got clearance from both sides. 
 
 Opposition delegate in Geneva, Louay Safi, said that the rebel Free Syria Army was prepared to lift a siege on three Shia villages in the north, allegedly being used as bases by the government from which to attack Aleppo, if this came as part of a wider deal to lift sieges across the country. 
 
 'Dialogue of the deaf' 
 
 The third day of face-to-face meetings in Switzerland was said to have broken up after the government's representatives set out a "declaration of basic principles" that did not mention a political transition as demanded by the 2012 Geneva Communique, the basis of the negotiations. 
 
 Government spokeswoman Buthaina Shaaban said the principles included protecting Syria's sovereignty, preserving state institutions and stopping the threat from "terrorist" groups, the designation officials routinely use to describe Mr Assad's opponents. 
 
 The government's proposal also included a condemnation of the US decision to "resume arming terrorist groups in Syria". 
 
 "We were surprised that this basic paper was rejected by the other side," Ms Shaaban said. 
 
 Mr Jouejati said the discussions had ended on a "sour note" after the government delegation became confrontational. 
 
 "We thought there was no point in continuing this since it was going to be a dialogue of the deaf," he said. 
 
 The National Coalition insists the government must agree to the full implementation of the Geneva Communique, which it says means Mr Assad will have no role to play in Syria's future. 
 
 The government says its delegation will not "hand over power to anyone". 
 
 White House spokesman Jay Carney said the US, which organised the negotiations along with the UN and Russia, was "realistic about how difficult this is going to be, but we are completely convinced that this is the only way forward". 
 
 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meanwhile called for progress on aid, besieged areas and prisoner exchanges. 
 
 Fighting between government and rebel forces is meanwhile raging on in Syria, with activists saying about 100 people are being killed each day. 
 
 More than 100,000 people have died and another 9.5 million have been displaced since the uprising against President Assad began in 2011. ||||| UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, Staffan de Mistura , informs the media at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, March 14, 2016. Mistura... (Associated Press) 
 
 GENEVA (AP) — The Latest on Syrian peace talks that resumed in Geneva on Monday (all times local): 
 
 6:45 p.m. 
 
 Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the start of the pullout of the Russian military from Syria starting Tuesday. 
 
 Putin said the move should help serve as a stimulus for Syria's political talks. The president said he coordinated the move with Syrian President Bashar Assad. 
 
 Putin said that the Russian airbase in Hemeimeem in Syria's coastal province of Latakia and a naval facility in the Syrian port of Tartous will continue to operate. 
 
 6:40 p.m. 
 
 Russia says it has voiced concern about cease-fire violations by U.S.-backed rebels in Syria. 
 
 The Defense Ministry said Monday that the Russian military coordination center in Syria had a conference call with its U.S. counterpart in Amman about violations of the Russian and U.S. brokered truce by opposition units near Kafr Nabudah in Hama province. 
 
 It says militants in the area have been listed by the U.S. as abiding by the cease-fire. 
 
 The cease-fire that began on Feb. 27 has largely held, but both Syrian President Bashar Assad's government and its foes have accused one another of violations. 
 
 The Islamic State group and al-Qaida's branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, are excluded from the cease-fire, which is intended to bolster indirect Syrian peace talks that began Monday. 
 
 ___ 
 
 5:30 p.m. 
 
 Residents say protesters have set fire to the security compound of an al-Qaida-linked group in northern Syria a day after the extremists swept through the town detaining U.S.-backed rebels. 
 
 An activist based in the northern town of Maaret al-Numan says the situation on Monday is "tense and boiling." He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being targeted by the extremist group. 
 
 In recent days the al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front has raided the bases of the Free Syrian Army's Division 13 and stolen weapons and vehicles acquired with U.S. support. 
 
 Division 13 enjoys widespread support in Maaret al-Numan. 
 
 ___ 
 
 5 p.m. 
 
 U.N. agencies and key partners say they are starting to get basic supplies to besieged areas in Syria but haven't reached about 20 percent of those in urgent need and are "extremely concerned" about some 500,000 people. 
 
 They said in a joint statement Monday that since the beginning of the year the U.N. and its partners have reached over six million people with aid through regular deliveries and recent convoys to besieged towns. 
 
 But U.N. humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien and 10 other signatories said not enough aid is getting through and medical supplies and equipment are still being removed at checkpoints, which is "unacceptable." 
 
 ___ 
 
 3:30 p.m. 
 
 The head of the Syrian government delegation to the indirect peace talks in Geneva says his side's discussions with U.N. special envoy for Syria were "positive and constructive." 
 
 Bashar Ja'afari told reporters after the meeting with Staffan de Mistura as the talks resumed on Monday in Switzerland that the government delegation "submitted ideas and views" for a political solution to the crisis. 
 
 He says de Mistura will meet the representatives of the opposition on Tuesday and the government team again on Wednesday. 
 
 Ja'afari says his team wants "to negotiate as Syrians under Syrian leadership without foreign intervention and without preconditions." 
 
 He says any party that opposes this premise is "trying to sabotage this round." He was referring to the oppositions demands from the previous round that failed in early February, demands that had included an end to bombardment, release of detainees and the lifting of the siege by government troops on rebel-held areas across Syria. 
 
 ____ 
 
 12:15 p.m. 
 
 Russia's Foreign Minister says federalization is one possible option in Syria if it is the will of the Syrian people. 
 
 Sergey Lavrov said Monday that Russia will support whatever solution the Syrian government and the opposition devise to end the country's war, including "any form (of government) whatever it may be called: federalization, decentralization, unitary state." 
 
 Speaking after a joint briefing on Monday in Moscow with his Tunisian counterpart, Lavrov also said countries should not launch attacks against terrorists in Libya without first receiving permission from the U.N. Security Council. 
 
 Lavrov said discussions about equipping Tunisian special forces in their fight against terrorism are ongoing. 
 
 ___ 
 
 11:15 a.m. 
 
 The U.N. special envoy for Syria says a resumption of peace talks between government envoys and representatives of the opposition is a "moment of truth" and insists the "only Plan B available is return to war." 
 
 Staffan de Mistura spoke to reporters Monday moments before resuming "proximity talks" in Geneva, a month after suspending them in an upsurge in violence in Syria. The talks come as he said a "fragile" cease-fire has largely held since Feb. 27, and humanitarian aid deliveries have resumed in recent weeks. 
 
 Many observers say the peace talks are the best chance in years to end a war moving into its sixth year, leaving at least 250,000 people dead and forcing at least 11 million people to leave their homes — many abroad. ||||| Image copyright AP Image caption Monitors said fighting had largely stopped, with no civilian deaths recorded in the first 15 hours 
 
 The cessation of hostilities in Syria that came into effect at sunset on Monday is largely holding on its first full day, reports suggest. 
 
 UK-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had recorded no civilian deaths in the first 15 hours of the truce. 
 
 Residents in the embattled northern city of Aleppo reported calm. 
 
 UN officials say they are ready to deliver aid to besieged areas but need better guarantees of peace. 
 
 The Syrian government says it will not allow aid, particularly "from the Turkish regime", to be delivered to Aleppo without prior co-ordination with it and the UN, state media report. 
 
 Some 250,000 civilians are estimated to be trapped in the rebel-held eastern part of Aleppo due to a siege by government forces. 
 
 'Sporadic attacks' 
 
 The fledgling truce was reportedly broken by sporadic attacks late on Monday, carried out by both government forces and rebels after the ceasefire had come into effect. 
 
 The Syrian Observatory said it had seen reports of aerial bombardment of some villages in Hama province, and shelling near Damascus. 
 
 The Syrian army has said the truce will be applied throughout Syria for seven days, but that it reserves the right to respond decisively to any violation by armed groups. 
 
 A number of rebel factions have given a guarded welcome to the deal but expressed reservations about its implementation. 
 
 Image copyright Jeremy Bowen Image caption Families have returned to safer parts of Aleppo, but many to badly damaged homes 
 
 Humanitarian groups are hoping to make aid deliveries to the worst-hit areas, especially Aleppo. 
 
 A UN spokesman said aid convoys were ready to travel in from Turkey but officials needed to see "a laying down of weapons that satisfies us... and as I speak that has not yet been the case". 
 
 Russian news agency Tass said that Russian troops had secured part of Castello Road - a key access route into Aleppo - on Tuesday, although this has not been confirmed. 
 
 US Secretary of State John Kerry called on Friday for the road to be demilitarised and said the US would work with Russia to free the route for aid convoys. 
 
 Image copyright Jeremy Bowen Image caption Entire districts of the city of Homs have been abandoned 
 
 The deal, described by Mr Kerry as the "last chance to save a united Syria", was struck on Friday in Geneva after months of talks between Russia and the US. It requires both sides to allow unhindered access for humanitarian aid. 
 
 If the truce holds for seven days, the US and Russia will carry out co-ordinated air strikes on militant groups - including so-called Islamic State and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (known until recently as the Nusra Front). 
 
 The opposition Free Syrian Army group has said that while it will "co-operate positively" with the ceasefire, it was concerned it would benefit the government. 
 
 Image copyright Jeremy Bowen Image caption The road to Aleppo, recently recaptured by the Syrian army, saw heavy fighting 
 
 Another major rebel group, the hardline Islamist Ahrar al-Sham, initially rejected the deal but later appeared to have softened its stance. 
 
 Opposition sources quoted by Reuters said a forthcoming statement supporting the cessation "with harsh reservations" would be backed by "the largest groups", including Ahrar al-Sham. 
 
 Speaking earlier, President Bashar al-Assad welcomed the deal but said the Syrian state was still "determined to recover every area from the terrorists, and to rebuild". 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption President Bashar al-Assad: "The Syrian state is determined to recover all areas from the terrorists" 
 
 The number of deaths recorded since the beginning of the conflict in March 2011 has now risen past 300,000, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. 
 
 However, it said it estimated the full death toll to be about 430,000. 
 
 The official UN estimate rests at 250,000 after the organisation stopped counting in 2014, uncertain of its ability to gather accurate data. 
 
 More than 4.8 million have fled abroad, and an estimated 6.5 million others have been displaced within the country, the UN says. 
 
 Areas of control around Aleppo 
 
 Big test for US and Russia: BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen 
 
 The strength, or otherwise, of the ceasefire is a big test of what appears to be a less sour, more workable relationship between the foreign ministers of the US and Russia. 
 
 Diplomacy failed in the first, critical years of the war. A major reason for that was diplomatic deadlock between President Bashar al-Assad's ally, Russia, and the US, which demanded his immediate departure from office. 
 
 Since then Russia has become the most influential outside power in Syria. The US and its Western allies have struggled to keep up. 
 
 Perhaps Moscow is now ready to build on a ceasefire, if it lasts, to push President Assad towards a political transition that might end the war. 
 
 Or perhaps, as enemies of President Assad and the Russians believe, the ceasefire will be a chance to regroup and rearm. 
 
 If the truce holds... 
 
 Image copyright GEORGE OURFALIAN Image caption Government forces have regained ground in Aleppo 
 
 Jihadist groups like so-called Islamic State and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham face the joint might of the Russian and US air forces 
 
 Moderate rebels and civilians in the areas they hold will no longer face the threat of indiscriminate air strikes such as barrel-bombing although the Syrian air force will not be grounded completely; aid deliveries will be allowed to areas currently under siege 
 
 President Assad will be in a stronger position as the US and Russia engage two of his most effective military opponents while moderate rebels observe the truce with his forces 
 
 Syria's history of failed deals 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption Can Kerry (left) and Lavrov succeed at last? 
 
 February 2012: Syrian government "categorically rejects" an Arab League plan calling for a joint Arab-UN peacekeeping mission 
 
 June 2012/January 2014/January 2016: Three failed UN-sponsored peace conferences in Geneva 
 
 September 2013: Kerry and Lavrov negotiate a deal to strip the Syrian government of its chemical weapons in return for the US backing away from air strikes. Since then, the government has again and repeatedly been accused of using toxic chemicals against rebel-held areas 
 
 February 2016: World powers agree in Munich on a nationwide "cessation of hostilities" in Syria excluding jihadist groups. There is no agreement on any joint US-Russian operations. The "pause" quickly unravels as Assad promises to regain control of the whole country 
 
 March 2016: President Vladimir Putin declares "mission accomplished" in Syria and orders removal of "main part" of Russia's air army in Syria. Russian air strikes have continued ever since ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's Jeremy Bowen drives into west Aleppo ahead of the ceasefire 
 
 A cessation of hostilities has come into effect in Syria, although it is unclear how widely it will be observed. 
 
 The Syrian army says it is implementing the truce, which began at sunset, but rebel groups have been more guarded. 
 
 US Secretary of State John Kerry, who helped broker the deal, warned it could be the last chance for peace in a united Syria. 
 
 Humanitarian groups are hoping to make aid deliveries to the worst-hit areas, especially the war-torn city of Aleppo. 
 
 Mr Kerry, speaking at the state department in Washington, said early reports indicated "some reduction in violence". 
 
 But he said that it was too early to draw a definitive conclusion about how effective the truce would be. 
 
 Just after the ceasefire came into effect at sunset on Monday, the Syrian army announced a seven-day "freeze" on military operations. 
 
 The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group reported that calm appeared to be prevailing on most front lines. 
 
 The deal was struck on Friday in Geneva after months of talks between Russia and the US. It also requires both sides to allow unhindered access for humanitarian aid to besieged areas. 
 
 Image copyright AP Image caption The Free Syrian Army has cautiously welcomed the cessation of hostilities 
 
 If the truce holds for seven days, the US and Russia will carry out co-ordinated air strikes on militant groups. 
 
 The opposition Free Syrian Army group has said that while it will "co-operate positively" with the ceasefire, it was concerned it would benefit the government. 
 
 Another major rebel group, the hardline Islamist Ahrar al-Sham, initially rejected the deal but later appeared to have softened its stance. 
 
 Opposition sources quoted by Reuters said a forthcoming statement supporting the cessation "with harsh reservations" would be backed by "the largest groups", including Ahrar al-Sham. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption President Bashar al-Assad: "The Syrian state is determined to recover all areas from the terrorists" 
 
 Speaking earlier, President Bashar al-Assad welcomed the deal but said the Syrian state was still "determined to recover every area from the terrorists, and to rebuild". 
 
 The cessation of violence is due to be renewed every 48 hours. 
 
 Big test for US and Russia: BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen 
 
 The strength, or otherwise, of the ceasefire is a big test of what appears to be a less sour, more workable relationship between the foreign ministers of the US and Russia. 
 
 Diplomacy failed in the first, critical years of the war. A major reason for that was diplomatic deadlock between President Bashar al-Assad's ally, Russia, and the US, which demanded his immediate departure from office. 
 
 Since then Russia has become the most influential outside power in Syria. The US and its Western allies have struggled to keep up. 
 
 Perhaps Moscow is now ready to build on a ceasefire, if it lasts, to push President Assad towards a political transition that might end the war. 
 
 Or perhaps, as enemies of President Assad and the Russians believe, the ceasefire will be a chance to regroup and rearm. 
 
 The truce followed a weekend of air strikes by government forces on several rebel areas that killed about 100 people. 
 
 Russian warplanes were also in action in the provinces of Idlib and Aleppo, say Syrian activists. 
 
 Image copyright Abo Anas Image caption Children play on a bomb in the al-Muyaser neighbourhood in Aleppo 
 
 Syrian children celebrate Eid in a warzone 
 
 Such intensification of violence has occurred before other, aborted, ceasefires in Syria. 
 
 Under the plan, Syrian government forces will halt combat missions in specified opposition-held areas. 
 
 Russia and the US will then establish a joint centre to combat jihadist groups, including so-called Islamic State and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (known until recently as the Nusra Front). 
 
 The conflict in Syria, which began with an uprising against Mr Assad, has raged for five years and claimed the lives of more than a quarter of a million people. 
 
 More than 4.8 million have fled abroad, and an estimated 6.5 million others have been displaced within the country, the UN says. 
 
 If the truce holds... 
 
 Image copyright GEORGE OURFALIAN Image caption Government forces have regained ground in Aleppo 
 
 Jihadist groups like so-called Islamic State and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham face the joint might of the Russian and US air forces 
 
 Moderate rebels and civilians in the areas they hold will no longer face the threat of indiscriminate air strikes such as barrel-bombing although the Syrian air force will not be grounded completely; aid deliveries will be allowed to areas currently under siege 
 
 President Assad will be in a stronger position as the US and Russia engage two of his most effective military opponents while moderate rebels observe the truce with his forces 
 
 Syria's history of failed deals 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption Can Kerry (left) and Lavrov succeed at last? 
 
 February 2012: Syrian government "categorically rejects" an Arab League plan calling for a joint Arab-UN peacekeeping mission 
 
 June 2012/January 2014/January 2016: Three failed UN-sponsored peace conferences in Geneva 
 
 September 2013: Kerry and Lavrov negotiate a deal to strip the Syrian government of its chemical weapons in return for the US backing away from air strikes. Since then, the government has again and repeatedly been accused of using toxic chemicals against rebel-held areas 
 
 February 2016: World powers agree in Munich on a nationwide "cessation of hostilities" in Syria excluding jihadist groups. There is no agreement on any joint US-Russian operations. The "pause" quickly unravels as Assad promises to regain control of the whole country 
 
 March 2016: President Vladimir Putin declares "mission accomplished" in Syria and orders removal of "main part" of Russia's air army in Syria. Russian air strikes have continued ever since ||||| This content was published on October 20, 2016 11:38 AM Oct 20, 2016 - 11:38 
 
 Assad has said that taking the city of Aleppo from rebel forces would act as a springboard to 'push terrorists back to Turkey’ (AFP) 
 
 Syria's President Bashar al-Assad told Swiss public television, SRF, that fighting ‘terrorists’ in Aleppo was the only way of ‘protecting civilians’. He denied government forces bombed hospitals indiscriminately and dismissed allegations of the army’s use of chemical weapons. 
 
 “According to the constitution, according to the law, we have to protect people, we have to get rid of those terrorists from Aleppo. This is where we can protect the civilians,” Assad told SRF in the interview broadcast on Wednesday. 
 
 "How can you protect them while they are under the control of terrorists? They've been killed by them, and they've been controlled fully by the terrorists. Is it our role to sit aside and watch, if that's how we can protect the Syrian people? We need to attack the terrorists, that's self-evident." 
 
 
 
 The Syrian military said on Thursday that a unilateral ceasefire backed by Russia had come into force to allow people to leave besieged eastern Aleppo. It’s a move that the rebels have said was part of a psychological campaign to get them to surrender. Intensified Russian and Syrian bombing of besieged rebel-held parts of Aleppo in the last few weeks has hit hospitals, bakeries and water pumping stations, and killed hundreds of civilians. 
 
 
 
 In the 20-minute interview, Assad said the roles in the conflict were clearly divided, with his government and ‘friends of Syria’ Russia, Iran and China defending the country ‘against the terrorists that have been invading Syria as proxies to other countries’. 
 
 
 
 The West, meanwhile, wants to depose the government and ‘get rid of a certain president just to bring puppets to suit their agenda’, he added. 
 
 
 
 Hospitals 
 
 The Syrian president denied bombing hospitals or targeting civilians in Aleppo. 
 
 
 
 “You cannot succeed in your war if you are killing civilians...I’m not asking people to leave Syria, I’m not attacking people; I’m defending the people,” he declared. 
 
 
 
 He rejected criticism of the army’s indiscriminate use of incendiary weapons and munitions like bunker-buster bombs: “The majority of people were killed by mortars shelled by the terrorists on them while they’re at schools, in their hospitals, in the streets, anywhere. It’s not related to the aerial bombardment.” 
 
 
 
 He also dismissed United Nations allegations into his army’s use of chemical weapons. 
 
 
 
 “They haven’t a shred of evidence,” he stated. “They sent one [UN delegation to Syria to investigate] in 2013, and it couldn’t prove at all that the Syrian Army used chemical weapons.” 
 
 
 
 He said the second UN investigation to Aleppo at the beginning of 2013 into allegations that ‘terrorists used chemical weapons against our army’ was opposed by the US as ‘they already knew that this investigation – of course if it’s impartial – is going to prove that those terrorists, their proxies, used chemical armaments against the Syrian Army’. 
 
 
 
 Kurt Pelda, a Swiss expert on the Middle East, calls Assad a "pathological liar who is completely detached from reality". Parts of the Syrian army were attacked with poison gas, he says, but by Syrian government airplanes which accidentally dropped chemical weapons over their own troops. The large attacks on the civilian population came from the regime, according to Pelda. Helicopters dropped bombs containing chlorine gas, which have been extensively investigated by the UN. 
 
 Interview conditions The interview with the Syrian president took place under strict conditions, defined by the government. The talks were filmed by the Syrian government. The Ministry of Information set the duration of the interview in advance (20 minutes). In addition, the conversation had to be broadcast in full length in Switzerland. SRF were allowed to ask questions without having to submit them in advance. 
 
 end of infobox 
 
 Diplomacy 
 
 Assad said he still believed in a diplomatic solution to the conflict, but added that it was impossible to deal with groups like al-Qaeda, al-Nusra and ISIS. 
 
 
 
 “They have their own ideology, repugnant ideology, so you cannot make political solution with this party; you have to fight them, you have to get rid of them,” he said. 
 
 
 
 But it is possible to discuss with “political entities” who are “with or against or in the middle”, or with “every militant who is ready to give in his armament for the sake of the security or stability in Syria”. 
 
 
 
 Diplomatic efforts have been continuing in Switzerland this week. On Thursday, US Secretary of State John Kerry played down expectations of a new Syrian ceasefire deal with Russia after talks in Geneva aimed at agreeing on how to separate al-Qaeda-linked militants from opposition fighters in the besieged city of Aleppo. 
 
 
 
 After two failed ceasefire agreements between the United States and Russia to end the fighting in Aleppo, a new round of talks includes Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which support Syrian opposition groups. Syria's ally Iran was not invited. 
 
 
 
 The Geneva talks follow a meeting between the United States and Arab and European allies on Tuesday that sought to coordinate efforts toward a new ceasefire after Russia – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's more powerful ally – unexpectedly announced it had halted air strikes on rebel-held areas of Aleppo. 
 
 
 
 On Friday, the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council will hold a special session on the worsening situation in Aleppo after a formal request from Britain, which was made on behalf of a core group of 11 Western and Arab countries, including the United States and regional powers backing Syrian rebel forces. 
 
 
 
 In a statement, the UN said the special session was needed "following the most recent deterioration of the human rights situation in Aleppo, and the failure of the Assad regime and its allies to fulfil their international human rights commitments”. 
 
 swissinfo.ch and SRF
– Geneva talks on Syria's future have been tense—and new US support for rebels isn't helping. On Monday, Reuters reported secret Congressional approval of funding to lightly arm "moderate" Syrian rebels through September. An opposition adviser reported an "outburst" by the Syrian government's lead negotiator, Bashar al-Jaafari, after which the UN's leading mediator called off the day's discussion, the New York Times reports. Talks resumed today, the BBC reports. Syrian officials say the US is backing terrorists—which the US calls "ludicrous"—and that its support for the rebels conflicts with its diplomatic efforts in Switzerland. The Times reports yesterday's afternoon session was axed to give the government time to come up with a transitional blueprint of its own. The BBC adds government reps did share a "declaration of basic principles," but absent from it was any statement on a political transition. And negotiators haven't even been able to achieve the basic goal of suspending fighting in Homs to bring in humanitarian aid. If talks don't move forward soon, the Times notes, Western officials may seek help from the UN Security Council, hoping that an image-conscious Russia won't exercise its veto ahead of the Olympics. Meanwhile, in Syria itself: Various rebel groups—including al-Qaeda-linked extremists—have gotten hold of the lion's share of oil and gas supplies, US officials tell the Times. Extremist groups are actually selling the resources to the government, with some getting electricity or a break from airstrikes as payment, opposition activists say. They're using the resulting cash to support clashes not just with Bashar al-Assad's forces, but with each other. Syria is poised to miss a chemical weapons deadline next week, insiders tell Reuters. By then, the country is supposed to have sent all such weapons abroad to be destroyed. But so far, just 4.1% of some 1,300 metric tons of chemical agents have been sent to the relevant port in Latakia, the sources say.