Syria peace talks make little progress, says envoy

By Oliver Holmes and Khaled Yacoub Oweis GENEVA (Reuters) – Peace talks between the Syrian government and opposition are not making much progress, the international mediator said on Tuesday after a face-to-face meeting of the warring parties in Geneva that both sides called fruitless. Negotiations intended to end Syria's three-year-old civil war began with a week-long session last month and have resumed this week in Geneva. But Lakhdar Brahimi, a veteran diplomat charged with running the internationally sponsored talks, told a news conference the second round so far was as "laborious" as the first. Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said Tuesday was a "lost day" while opposition spokesman Louay Safi said "no progress" had been made.