A member of the UN special envoy's team has carried out the first field visit to Syria for several months.
Lakhdar Brahimi's deputy Mokhtar Lamani held talks with the
head of the rebel Revolutionary Military Council to the north of
Damascus, a UN official said.
He also met civilian and Christian leaders in the town of
Yabroud, with all expressing support for a recent opposition peace
initiative.
Damascus has seen heavy recent fighting but rebels have made no breakthrough.
Moaz al-Khatib, head of the National Coalition for Syrian
Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, offered earlier this month to hold
direct talks with Vice-President Farouq al-Sharaa.
However, he gave two conditions - the release of the 160,000
people he said were being held in prisons and intelligence facilities,
and the resumption of the issuing of new passports by Syrian embassies.
On Monday, the government responded to the offer for the first time.
The Minister for National Reconciliation, Ali Haidar, told the Guardian newspaper
that he was "willing to meet Mr Khatib in any foreign city where I can
go in order to discuss preparations for a national dialogue".
Opposition and rebel groups have long insisted that they will
not begin dialogue with the government until President Bashar al-Assad
agrees to stand down.
Mr Lamani met met civilian and Christian leaders in the town of Yabroud
The messages of support for Mr Khatib's initiative, offered by
leaders in Qalamoun, near Damascus, and in Yabroud, may be seen as a
positive sign by Mr Lamani.
The UN spokesperson said the Canadian diplomat's visit was
the first of a series that he planned to carry out in the coming weeks.
Since taking up his post in September, Mr Lamani has played
an important role in negotiating local ceasefires, particularly at the
Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp, reports the BBC's Lina Sinjab in
Damascus.
The UN field visit is seen as a step forward in the promotion
of dialogue between both sides and shows that Mr Brahimi's team can
play a role in mediation, our correspondent adds.
Later on Wednesday, the new US Secretary of State, John
Kerry, reiterated the Obama administration's position that any political
solution to the conflict in Syria had to include Mr Assad giving up
power.
Mr Kerry said he was looking into ways to convince the
president to change his "calculation" and accept "the inevitability" of
his departure. There were "additional things" that could be done to get
there, he added
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