SYRIA’S government will abandon peace talks in Geneva starting today if Western-backed militants do not come to the table withn 24 hours.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said on Saturday that Damascus would hold the Saudi-convened High Negotiations Committee (HNC) and other participants responsible if the latest attempt at negotiations fails.

“We are going to Geneva and we do not know with whom we will have dialogue,” he said. “We are looking forward to having dialogue with the broadest spectrum of opposition groups.”

Mr Moallem said the government did not place preconditions on dialogue, but he insisted: “We do not bow to anyone, whether states or groups.

“If those have illusions of taking over power through Geneva after they failed on the battlefield, they will fail once again.”

The previous round of UN-brokered talks did not get off the ground as the HNC refused to sit down with the Syrian government until it declared a unilateral ceasefire and allowed supplies into insurgent-held areas.

On February 3, UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura “suspended” the already stalled process after the HNC walked following their defeat by Syrian army forces and Kurdish YGP militia north of Aleppo.

Mr Moallem criticised Mr de Mistura’s recent comments suggesting that Bashar al-Assad’s presidency and even Syria’s territorial integrity might be on the table, accusing him of trying to please the opposition.

“Our people will reject any attempts at dividing” the country along sectarian lines, he added.

Mr Moallem also condemned the 22-member Arab League for following the Gulf Co-operation Council’s lead in declaring Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement — a staunch ally of Damascus — a terrorist organisation on Friday.

“It is shameful to undermine the resistance for Israel’s sake,” he said. “It is shameful for those who claim they are Arabs.”

Today’s talks are the result of the truce brokered by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Asked whether the peace conference could go ahead, Mr Kerry paraphrased his boss Barack Obama, saying: “Yes it can.”

• The Syrian military launched an assault yesterday on Isis militants in the medieval Palmrya Castle, which overlooks the modern city of Tadmur on the ancient Roman site.