Ice breaks in Syrian peace talks

Reuters, Geneva :
Opposing sides in Syria’s civil war stood together to observe a minute of silence on Thursday in honor of the tens of thousands killed in the three-year conflict, a rare symbol of harmony a week into peace talks that have so far yielded no compromise.
The first talks between President Bashar al-Assad’s government and his foes have been mired in rhetoric since they began last
 Friday. The two sides took a first tentative step forward on Wednesday by agreeing to use the same 2012 roadmap as the basis of discussions to end the civil war, although they disagreed about how talks should proceed.
UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said on Wednesday he does not expect to achieve anything substantive in the first round which ends on Friday, but hopes for more progress in a second round starting about a week later.
Opposition delegate Ahmad Jakal said his delegation’s head, Hadi al-Bahra, proposed the minute of silence and all sides stood up, including Assad’s delegation and Brahimi’s team.
“All stood up for the souls of the martyrs. Symbolically it was good,” Jakal told Reuters.