UN peace envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi said Monday he was pressing on with plans for a conference aimed at ending the fighting in the country

UN peace envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi said Monday he was pressing on with plans for a conference aimed at ending the fighting in the country, though no firm date is in sight.
  
"It is extremely difficult to bring people who have been killing one another for two years just by a magic wand to a conference like this. It will take time, but I hope it will happen," Brahimi told a handful of reporters on the sidelines of an event in Washington.
  
"There are still issues that have not been solved. We are hopeful. That's all we can say."

"The United Nations have made it very clear that we would like all countries... with interests and/or influence (to) attend Geneva, and that includes Iran," Brahimi told the reporters.
  
And amid debate in Washington about arming the Syrian opposition, Brahimi said the UN stand was also very clear. "Arms do not make peace. We would like to see the delivery of arms stopped to all sides."
  
Another major problem is divisions between the Syrian opposition, Brahimi earlier told an audience gathered at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "The opposition is divided that's no secret. They are trying to get their act together and work their way to being a truly representative organization," he said.
  
He also took issue with perceptions that Assad seemed to be gaining the upper hand. "Most people in November last year were convinced that the regime had lost ... I think that was not correct," he said. "Now you have a lot of people saying that the regime is winning. The regime is doing much better than it did in November last year, that is true. But in situations like this winning and progress are two different things."