Syria foes meet twice in 'good start' to Geneva II talks
Bashar Jafari says suggestions that discussions will include talking about President Assad's future are "a big lie"
Syria's opposition and government have met twice in what the UN's Lakhdar Brahimi hailed a "good beginning" to peace talks.
Mr Brahimi, who is mediating, admitted the sides "haven't achieved much" but said he was trying to build confidence by broaching humanitarian issues first.
He said the getting an aid convoy into Homs had been discussed, and imprisoned people would be discussed on Sunday.
Delegates in Geneva are aiming at small concessions, not a full peace deal.
"Ending terrorism and violence" is the top priority, Syrian officials say. They insist it is too early to discuss President Bashar al-Assad's position.
In the first meeting, the two delegations filed in through separate doors into one room in the UN Geneva Headquarters, and sat down at the same U-shaped table, but said nothing to each other.
Mr Brahimi said another two-hour meeting had taken place in the afternoon.
He admitted no direct words had been exchanged but said the two sides were "talking through me to one another - this is what happens in civilised discussions," he said, where sides addressed each other via the chairperson.
On reports the Syrian regime were only concerned to discuss "terrorism" in Syria, he insisted "both sides have agreed we are here to discuss the implementation of the 30 June communique" - the blueprint for peace talks set out at a meeting in Geneva in 2012.
He said he was "praying for some good news" in meetings on Sunday.
'Dictators don't like to listen'There is hope that minor progress will pave the way for the discussion of wider issues like political transition next week, although there has been no sign of common ground on this so far.
Shortly after the initial meeting, the chief of staff to the leader of Syria's National Coalition, Monzer Akbik, claimed that the transition process had started in earnest.
"Today we had the chance to speak directly to regime... You know dictators usually, they don't like to listen. But today they had to listen to us and to the voice of the Syrian people that they want transition from dictatorship to democracy."
However Syria's Ambassador to the UN Bashar Jafari - part of the government delegation - earlier told the BBC that it was "too early" to talk of Mr Assad stepping down and that the issue was "not the priority".
Monzer Akbik said talks would focus on the country's humanitarian crisis as well as political transition
"Item number one should be putting an end to the terrorism and to the violence," he said.
The envoy said the common ground between the parties "should be that we should talk about everything, everything, without any selectivity... and no preconditions and no hidden agendas".
But he accused the coalition delegation of harbouring "personal hatreds towards the government for whatever reasons".
Syria's civil conflict has claimed well over 100,000 lives since it began in 2011.
The violence has also driven 9.5 million people from their homes, creating a major humanitarian crisis within Syria and for its neighbours.
Opening a corridor to allow humanitarian aid into areas of Homs is thought to be under discussion 
The opposition wants President Assad to step down as a condition of peace 
Syria's Ambassador to the UN told the BBC talking about Mr Assad's position was "not the priority" The opposition and government are fundamentally divided over the aims of the conference.
The government delegation has said the main issue of the talks is finding a solution to foreign-backed "terrorism", by which it means the whole of the armed opposition.
The opposition, however, had insisted that the regime commit in writing to the 2012 Geneva I communique, which called for a transition process.
The communique urged Syria to form a transitional governing authority that "could include members of the present government and the opposition and other groups".
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