DHAKA: Syria should hold elections within 18 months, groups opposing the Syrian president should be involved in future talks about the country’s political process, and a truce - minus two rebel groups - should be put in place immediately.

World leaders said, reports Al Jazeera.

The leaders met in the Austrian capital Vienna on Saturday to chart a way towards a ceasefire and political transition to end the country’s war.

Following the talks, US Secretary of State John Kerry said negotiations between the Syrian government and opposition should start by January 1.

Kerry added that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (IS) group and al-Nusra Front were designated as terrorist organizations and would not be part of a ceasefire or talks.

Addressing reporters alongside the Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, the US official said that a transitional government for Syria is to be set in six months, with hopes for elections in 18 months’ time.

He added, however that, ‘we still differ on what happens to (Syrian President) Bashar al-Assad’.

Lavrov said that the majority of delegates wanted an immediate ceasefire in Syria.

BDST: 1241 HRS, Nov 15, 2015
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