Key players at the Syria peace talks in Montreux (PHOTOS)
US Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in Geneva, Switzerland, on Jan. 21, 2014. On the first day of the Syria peace conference in Montreux on Jan. 22, Kerry said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would not be part of any new transitional government in the war-torn country.
US Secretary of State John Kerry is among the key players attending the long-awaited Syria peace talks in the Swiss city of Montreux on Wednesday.
The conference, which was in disarray earlier in the week after UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon unexpectedly invited Iran, is aimed at finding a political solution to the three-year conflict.
Ban withdrew the invitation to Tehran on Monday after the Syrian National Council, Syria's main opposition group, threatened it would not attend the meeting and the US, France and Saudi Arabia pushed for the offer to be rescinded.
Representatives from some 40 countries and regional bodies are attending the one-day meeting, but the key players to watch are: Ban, Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, SNC leader Ahmad Jarba and Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem.
The Syrian government and opposition are due to start face-to-face talks in Geneva on Friday.
More from GlobalPost: Syria talks kick off in Montreux with accusations (LIVE BLOG)
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