Syria congress begins in Russia but key players absent

Russia's showpiece congress aimed at bringing Syria's seven-year war closer to an end will go ahead on Tuesday, despite the country's main opposition group and Kurdish minority saying they would boycott the event. Regime-backer Moscow has invited 1,600 delegates to the meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi as part of a broader push to consolidate its influence in the Middle East and start hammering out a political solution to the conflict. The main aim of the talks starting at 10:00 am (0700 GMT) will be to establish a committee to create a post-war constitution for Syria with UN-backing, according to a draft statement seen by AFP.

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