Syria conflict: Opposition considers talks attendance
Syria has been devastated by the long-running conflict Syria's main political opposition, the Syrian National Coalition, is meeting in Istanbul to decide whether to go to next week's peace talks.
The coalition is under pressure from the US and its allies to participate in the Geneva II conference, though many of its members have already pulled out.
Some are reluctant to go unless President Bashar al-Assad is excluded from any transitional government.
Damascus says there should be no pre-conditions for the talks.
The three-year conflict has claimed more than 100,000 lives.
An estimated two million people have fled the country and some 6.5 million have been internally displaced.
Huge doubtsThe Syrian National Coalition is deeply divided, with its key bloc - the Syrian National Council - threatening to boycott the talks.
Of the 120 members of the coalition, 44 have already pulled out of the meeting in Switzerland.
But all of them - and their regional backers such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia - are under huge pressure from the Americans and others to take up the opportunity to achieve the goals of the Syrian revolution, the BBC's Jim Muir in Lebanon reports.
However, our correspondent says that the coalition - if it goes to the talks - will be really weak, with huge doubts about how representative it is, as virtually none of the major fighting forces on the ground favour talking to the government.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (centre) insisted there was no "hidden agenda" regarding his meeting with his Iranian and Syrian counterparts. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said there was "no hidden agenda" to their meeting. "This does not mean that we have some tri-party (peace) draft," he told reporters.
Although the coalition is widely regarded abroad as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people, several other opposition alliances and powerful Islamist rebel groups refuse to recognise its authority.
In the past fortnight alone, more than 1,000 people have been killed in battles between rebel forces and jihadist fighters, an activist group reports.
On the eve of the talks, US Secretary of State John Kerry urged the opposition to join.
Mr Kerry stressed that their aim was to begin the process of setting up a transitional government to end the war in Syria.
"The United States urges a positive vote," Mr Kerry said.
He described the 21 January Swiss peace conference as the beginning of a process "that is the best opportunity for the opposition to achieve the goals of the Syrian people and the revolution".
Mr Kerry stressed that only people "agreed by both the opposition and the regime" would be considered for a role in any future transitional government.
An official from the coalition told reporters earlier this week that they had been warned privately that Britain and the US would rethink their support if it did not attend the peace talks.
Hopes downplayedOur correspondent says that the appeal of the peace talks has been lessened by the leaking of the Syrian government's response to the invitation. This makes it clear Damascus intends to focus on terrorism and has no intention of negotiating a transition of power.
Meanwhile, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem has been holding talks with his counterparts from Russia and Iran - who remain allies of Damascus - in Moscow.
Mr Lavrov is keen for Iran to be part of the peace talks, but Mr Kerry has said that Tehran must first agree to the Geneva I communique which calls for a political transition in Syria.
In Damascus, Syria's National Reconciliation Minister Ali Haidar dampened hopes of a breakthrough next week.
"Don't expect anything from Geneva II. Neither Geneva II, not Geneva III nor Geneva X will solve the Syrian crisis," he said.
"The solution has begun and will continue through the military triumph of the state."
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