Brahimi met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns in Geneva Friday. With these talks, the second since December, Brahimi had hoped to bridge differences between Russia and the US on ending Syria's nearly two-year conflict.

"We are all very, very deeply aware of the immense suffering of the Syrian people, which has gone on for far too long," Brahimi said on behalf of the trio. "And we all stressed the need for a speedy end to the bloodshed, destruction and all forms of violence in Syria," he added,

Last June, world powers had called for a transitional leadership structure. The US has insisted on Syrian President's Bashar Assad's stepping down; the take by Russia is that Syrians must decide this.

"If you ask me if a solution is around the corner," Brahimi said, "I'm not sure that is the case."

He added, though, that Syrians had had enough of the Assad family after its 40 years in power. However, he hasn't ruled out that members of the leadership might play a transitional role.

Rebel gains

On Friday, opposition groups also announced that rebel fighters had taken control of northern Syria's Taftanaz air base. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which supports the opposition, announced Assad's military had started bombing the base after losing control of it.

"The regime forces have left behind prisoners and dead bodies in Taftanaz," Observatory head Rami Abdel-Rahman told the German news agency dpa.

Syria's 21-month conflict has killed more than 60,000 people, according to UN estimates. The number of Syrians who have fled to neighboring countries and North Africa jumped by more than 100,000 in the past month to 612,000, the UN refugee agency announced on Friday.

mkg/dr (Reuters, dpa, AP)