The Syrian government rejected on Tuesday that indirect peace talks have properly begun, with the head of its delegation describing negotiations as still in a "preparatory phase" and calling the opposition "not serious,".

"We are still in the preparatory phase for indirect talks... We still don't know who the opposition delegation is," Bashar al-Jaafari told reporters after meeting UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura in Geneva.

"We also asked for the names of participants and the agenda of indirect talks... We are waiting to know... whom we will negotiate with," he said, describing the opposition as "not serious" and not "professional politicians".

De Mistura said on Monday that his first formal meeting with the opposition High Negotiations Committee meant that the hoped-for six months of talks to try to end the Syrian conflict had officially begun.

Source: MENA