Rough start for Syria talks as sides sit apart The first talks between Syria's warring sides were off to a rough start on Friday after the United Nations failed to convince regime and opposition delegates to sit in the same room. Pulled together by the UN, Russia and the United States, delegations from President Bashar al-Assad's regime and the opposition had been due to sit down in the morning at UN headquarters in Geneva. Images of the UN building and soundbites of the Syrian delegation