Syria Regime Says Peace Talks to Start from March 14, Opposition Undecided

Syria's regime said Monday it would attend renewed peace talks in Geneva starting March 14, but the opposition was still considering whether to go despite a major lull in fighting.

The United Nations is hoping to restart peace talks that collapsed last month, building on a ceasefire that has led to the first significant decline in violence in Syria's nearly five-year civil war.

U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura has said he hopes talks can begin from Thursday, but officials have indicated it could take several days of preparations before they can start.

A source close to the Syrian regime delegation told AFP it would attend the new round of talks starting from March 14.

But the opposition has sent mixed signals on whether it will take part.

The head of the Riyadh-based High Negotiations Committee, Riad Hijab, on Monday refused to commit to the talks.

"The HNC will assess the situation in the coming days and we will take the appropriate decision," he told reporters.

Speaking in a conference call from Riyadh, Hijab said a small delegation from the HNC would travel to Geneva "in the next two days" to meet the international task force monitoring the truce.

Hijab's statements appeared to be a step back from earlier comments by HNC spokesman Riad Naasan Agha, who said the opposition delegation would arrive on Friday to take part in talks.

- Aid deliveries rise -

The truce between President Bashar Assad's regime and non-jihadist rebels is part of the biggest diplomatic effort yet to resolve Syria's conflict, which has killed more than 270,000 people and forced millions from their homes.

Russia and the United States are on opposing sides of the conflict -- Moscow backs Assad and Washington supports the opposition -- but have made a concerted push for the truce and further peace efforts to succeed.

Observers say the partial truce, which does not apply to the Islamic State group or the al-Qaida-affiliated al-Nusra Front, has largely held despite widespread skepticism before it took effect.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said Sunday had been Syria's "calmest day" since the ceasefire began.

Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP that the average number of civilian deaths a day had fallen by 90 percent since the truce came into force, with an 80 percent decline among soldiers and rebel forces.

Aid deliveries have also improved, with the U.N. delivering supplies on Monday to a key rebel bastion east of Damascus, the third distribution since the truce began on February 27.

World Food Program spokesman Hussam al-Saleh told AFP that 22 trucks would distribute food, flour and medical supplies to the towns of Hammuriya, Jisreen and Beit Sawa in Eastern Ghouta.

Residents have taken advantage of the ceasefire to stage daily protests.

In Aleppo city, dozens of men demonstrated, carrying the three-starred tricolor of the uprising and banners reading: "The world's silence is louder than the barrel bombs of death."

But an anti-regime protest in northwest Idlib city ended abruptly after al-Nusra fighters threatened to shoot demonstrators.

Local activist Ibrahim al-Idlibi said al-Nusra arrested several photographers, but that residents were planning a fresh protest soon.

Moscow, which has provided a daily account of ceasefire violations, said the truce was still "in general" holding apart from unspecified "isolated provocations and shelling."

It said Russian planes were continuing to carry out air strikes against IS and al-Nusra in three provinces, including on the main IS stronghold of Raqa.

In September Russia began a campaign it says is targeting "terrorists", but has been accused of hitting non-jihadist rebels in support of Assad's forces.

- Vow to 'squeeze' IS -

A plan agreed by world powers last year calls for a ceasefire, the creation of a transitional body, the drafting of a new constitution and fresh elections.

The main sticking point in negotiations has been the fate of Assad, whom the opposition insists must step down for any transition to work.

The HNC's Hijab said that if it attends, the issue of a "transitional governing body with no role for Assad" would top its agenda.

Beginning trip to the Middle East, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden admitted that finding a political solution would be difficult but said there was no other choice.

"So as hard as it is, we have to keep trying to reach a political settlement," he told Abu Dhabi newspaper The National.

Speaking to hundreds of American and allied forces at a military base in the United Arab Emirates, Biden said Washington was committed to the fight against IS.

"We have to squeeze the heart of Daesh in Iraq and Syria so they can't continue to pump the poison in the region and the rest of the world," he said, using an Arabic acronym for IS.