DIPLOMATIC manoeuvring continued yesterday as warring Syrian factions gathered in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana for preliminary peace talks.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Jaberi Ansari said the ongoing ceasefire and reconciliation in Syria were on the agenda of the two-day meeting set to start tomorrow.

But the Cairo Platform of opposition groups rejected an offer from the Saudi-based High Negotiations Committee of a single place in its delegation to the February 23 peace talks in Geneva.