Brahimi says no substantive progress on Syria but hopeful

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Mariam Karouny GENEVA (Reuters) – International mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said on Wednesday that he does not expect to achieve anything substantive in the first round of Syria talks ending on Friday, but hoped for a more productive second round starting about a week later. "We talked about the TGB (Transitional Governing Body), but of course it is a very, very preliminary discussion and more generally of what each side expects," Brahimi told reporters. Opposition and government sides said they agreed to use the "Geneva communiqué", a document endorsed by world powers at a conference in June 2012, and which sets out the stages needed to end the fighting and agree on a political transition. "We have agreed that Geneva 1 is the basis of the talks," opposition spokesman Louay al-Safi told reporters.