The United States said on Tuesday it was persuading a key Syrian opposition group to take part in the international conference aimed at ending the Syrian crisis.

The United States said on Tuesday it was persuading a key Syrian opposition group to take part in the international conference aimed at ending the Syrian crisis.

The so-called Syrian National Council said at the weekend it would not attend the peace talks planned for next month and would quit the Syrian opposition coalition if it does.

"There have been many ups and downs in this process. And that's not unexpected given how challenging the situation is on the ground," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

"But we continue to press for the opposition to have a representative body at the Geneva conference,” she told reporters.
US ambassador to Syria Robert Ford had been working closely with the opposition "to make sure they know from our team that it's essential and important that they attend a conference," Psaki said.

George Sabra, the president of the Syrian National Council, the biggest member of the opposition coalition, told AFP on Sunday it was impossible to carry out negotiations given the suffering of people on the ground.

"The Syrian National Council, which is the biggest bloc in the Coalition, has taken the firm decision... not to go to Geneva, under the present circumstances," George Sabra told AFP.

The so-called Geneva II peace conference was first talked of in May but has been postponed several times due to internal wrangling among the opposition and a dispute on which countries should have a place at the negotiating table.

After talks on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last month, it was announced that the UN and its international partners now hope to convene in mid-November the talks that aim to chart a path towards a political transition in Syria.

Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday after talks in London with UN-Arab League special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi that it was "urgent" to set a date.
"For our part, the United States are deeply committed to try to set a date very soon," Kerry said.

He argued there had to be a deal for a transitional government, as President Bashar al-Assad "has lost the legitimacy necessary to be able to be a cohesive force that could bring people together."

Psaki told reporters that the opposition's participation in peace talks was "pivotal."

The US was trying to stress peace talks were "the way to end this terrible conflict, that there is not a military solution. The only path to ending this civil war is a political solution," she added.