Peace talks gathering the Syrian regime and rebel groups have begun in the Kazakh capital Astana, although rebels said they would not negotiate face-to-face with the government in the talks' first session.
Representatives of the Syria regime and rebel groups sat at the same round table as Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov delivered an opening speech, an AFP correspondent saw.
The Syrian government considers most of the rebel groups attending the conference to be foreign-backed "terrorists", but says it is ready to engage in talks with armed groups that surrender their arms and enter reconciliation deals.
Mainstream rebel groups under the banner of the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) have rejected these terms, saying their goal is to end President Bashar al Assad's rule through a UN backed political transition process.
"We will not enter into any political discussions and everything revolves over abiding by the ceasefire and the humanitarian dimension of easing the suffering of Syrians under siege and release of detainees and delivery of aid," Yahya al Aridi, a spokesman for the opposition delegation, told Reuters.
"The Syrian regime has an interest in diverting attention from these issues. If the Syrian regime thinks our presence in Astana is a surrender by us, this is a delusion," he added.
The 14-member team has taken no decision on holding face-to-face talks with the government delegation after the start of the conference, he said, adding that it was likely to be via intermediaries like the previous UN-backed Geneva conferences.
"There are complications when you are going to face those who entered your country and continue to kill you, and a regime that has not abided by a ceasefire and continues with its policy of destruction and killing its people," he said.
The delegation, which faced enormous pressure from regional backer Turkey to attend the talks branded a sellout by other rebel groups, was meeting round the clock to decide whether to attend the opening session, where it would be in the same room as Syrian government representatives.
Marwan Kabalan, a Syrian academic from the Arab Center for Research and Policy, believes the consequences of not attending the talks would be too great for the delegation.
"The Syrian opposition won't be able to resist this Turkish pressure, because today Turkey is the major backer of the Syrian opposiiton," he told Al-Jazeera.
"If the Turks decided not to continue supporting the Syrian opposition, that's going to be a major blow for them."
Mr Kabalan also said he wasn't surprised that Russian officials have invited members of US President Donald Trump's administration to attend the talks, despite America's lack of involvement in the latest round of diplomacy.
"The Russians and the Turks realise that peace talks can start, but it can't reach any meaningful conlcusion without the participation of the Americans," he said.
The Syrian government has long denied using its aerial superiority to bomb civilians in rebel-held areas in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands.
UN investigators have also accused both government and rebels of committing war crimes during the conflict.
