UN ENVOY to Syria Staffan de Mistura further postponed peace talks in Geneva yesterday as Turkey continued to shell the country’s Kurdish north.

The 17-state International Syria Support Group met yesterday to hammer out the “cessation of hostilities” announced in Munich on February 11 but Mr de Mistura said peace talks proper could not begin.

The UN envoy originally suspended preliminary talks on February 3, with preconditions by the Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee (HNC) blocking progress.