Diplomats gather in Geneva to prepare peace conference on Syria

The UN-Arab League envoy to Syria will meet with senior diplomats in Geneva on Tuesday in a new bid to prepare a long-delayed peace conference amid continued wrangling over who will take part.

Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi will first hold talks with Russian deputy foreign ministers Gennady Gatilov and Mikhail Bogdanov and US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman early Tuesday.

Later in the day, the meeting will be broadened to include representatives of the three other permanent members of the UN Security Council — China, France and Britain.

The talks in the Swiss city aim to pave the way for a new international conference focused on ending the spiralling 31-month conflict in Syria, which has killed more than 120,000 people and forced millions more to flee their homes.