Syrian ruling party mouthpiece Al-Baath daily lashed out at UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi on Monday, accusing him of "not listening to the Syrian people" and suggesting he may resign soon. The newspaper questioned ongoing support for Brahimi's mission "while discussions over plans for a no-fly zone (in Syria) are being carried out behind the scenes at the UN with the participation of Western countries." "Why should we support Brahimi while the UN and Arab League continue to try and impose one group (the opposition) on the Syrian people?", Al-Baath said.

(Adds Russian meeting with peace envoy Brahimi) MOSCOW, March 6 (Reuters) - Senior U.S. and Russian diplomats will discuss the Syrian conflict at talks in London on Thursday, Russia said on Wednesday, announcing the latest in a series of meetings aimed at finding an end to the bloodshed.

The United Nations is prepared to broker peace talks between Syria's regime and opposition, the world body's chief Ban Ki-moon and his top envoy for the conflict Lakhdar Brahimi said Saturday. "The United Nations would welcome and be prepared to facilitate a dialogue between a strong and representative delegation from the opposition and a credible and empowered delegation from the Syrian government," a joint statement said. apo/jmm/lc

Syrian opposition leaders renewed their efforts on Friday to form a provisional government to halt a slide into chaos in rebel-held areas, a day after insisting that any peace talks have to result in the removal of President Bashar al-Assad. Almost two years after the national revolt against Assad broke out in southern Syria, the absence of a political leadership from swathes of land under rebel control has been a glaring weakness of Assad's foes, who have little control over Islamist brigades making advances on the ground.