DHAKA: UN mediator for Syrian peace talks Lakhdar Brahimi is to hold separate talks with rival delegations to assess their willingness to meet together.

The behind-the-scenes negotiations follow the first day of a major peace conference in Switzerland which ended in bitter divisions, reports BBC.

Brahimi`s initiative takes place before full talks resume on Friday.

It remains unclear whether the two sides will negotiate face-to-face - as planned by the UN - when talks restart.

The BBC`s diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall says that while the peace process may have got off to a rocky start in Montreux - with heated disagreements on Wednesday - at least neither of the two rival delegations from the government and the opposition walked out.

And both say they will come to the UN brokered talks due to begin in Geneva on Friday.

But our correspondent says that how those talks will work is still is not certain.

Brahimi has revealed that he still does not know if the two sides are even prepared to sit in the same room.

He intends to consult them separately on Thursday to gauge what is possible.

"What we will try to do is talk about how to end this bloody war, and for that, I think, we have a kind of road map in the communique of 30 June 2012, and we`ll see how we use that platform to best effect," Brahimi said.

"We have no illusion that it is going to be easy, but we are going to try very hard.

BDST: 1040 HRS, JAN 23, 2014