DHAKA: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for "flexibility" at talks in Vienna between the countries backing rival sides in the Syrian civil war.

He urged the five main participants - the US, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey - to abandon "national perspectives" for "global leadership", reports the BBC.

These are the first such talks to include Iran, which - with Russia - backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The US and its allies insist Assad cannot be part of any solution.

The four-year-old war in Syria, which began with an uprising against Assad, has left 250,000 people dead and forced half the country's population - or 11 million people - from their homes.

Russia and Iran have recently stepped up their military involvement in the conflict, backing forces loyal to Assad.

The US, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab nations have long insisted Assad cannot play any long-term role in Syria's future.

Foreign ministers held informal talks in Vienna on Thursday, with the substantive discussions scheduled for Friday.

Speaking after meeting Zarif, the EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the Vienna talks would bring together "all the relevant actors playing around the same table, trying to define a common space for the beginning of a political process".

US Secretary of State John Kerry also met Zarif on Thursday, as well as the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, and the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

BDST: 0920 HRS, OCT 30, 2015
RS

** ‘Vienna talks to test if Iran serious on Syria’