Russia, Iran meet Syria opposition for talks

The Syrian opposition met with Russia and Iran in unprecedented talks on the civil war in Syria.

Russian and Iranian foreign ministers met with Syria's opposition leader Moaz al-Khatib on ending the nearly two-year conflict.

AFP reported that the meeting took place on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, which happened this weekend.

"I reminded Khatib that after the creation of the coalition and the appointment of their leader, we immediately demonstrated our interest in maintaining regular contact," said Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov after the meeting, reported AFP.

"We will make that happen."

The Guardian newspaper reported that the Syrian opposition also met Iranian counterparts at the conference.

Iran has called for a transitional government made up of former regime officials and opposition leaders under UN supervision.

The removal of Syria's President Assad continues to remain a point of contention.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that January was the second deadliest month in the uprising with nearly 5000 people dead.

It was reported that among those dead were about 1000 Syrian soldiers.

The number of civilians and rebels dead are harder to estimate.