Syria's main opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) today it was willing to join a transitional government with diplomats and technocrats from President Bashar al-Assad's government.
"We cannot accept the participation of the parties who committed crimes against the Syrian people in the transitional governing body," HNC spokesman Salem al-Meslet said on the sidelines of peace talks in Geneva.
But he added that the opposition could cooperate with regime "diplomats and technocrats", provided they had support among the population.
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"The distribution of seats of the transitional governing body will be subject to a long debate," al-Meslet told AFP.
A new round of UN-brokered Syria peace talks got underway earlier this week.
The government delegation, which arrived in Geneva today, held its first meeting with United Nations mediator Staffan de Mistura, with a second session set for Monday.
The HNC was holding its second meeting with de Mistura today evening.
Political transition in the war-ravaged country, and particularly Assad's future, are the key obstacles at the negotiations, which aim to set up an interim government in six months ahead of UN-monitored presidential and parliamentary elections within 18 months.