Syrian opposition scents progress at Geneva talks

Nasr al-Hariri, chief negotiator of the Syrian High Negotiations Committee (HNC) opposition group addresses the media after a Intra-Syria peace talks meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

GENEVA (Reuters) - Syria peace talks in Geneva showed a first flicker of movement on Wednesday, as the opposition said President Bashar al-Assad's negotiators had been pushed by his Russian allies to address for the first time opposition demands for a political transition.

Six days of U.N.-led talks, the first for almost 10 months, have focussed almost entirely on how to arrange more substantive talks in later rounds. But after two hours closeted with U.N. mediator Staffan de Mistura on Wednesday, opposition negotiator Nasr al-Hariri told reporters he had made "a good start".