pakuptodate.blogspot.com/ The Syrian government says it will send a delegation to fresh peace talks due to start in Geneva on Monday, but has put limits on the agenda.
Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, speaking in Damascus, ruled out any debate of presidential elections.
An opposition spokesman said the government's pre-conditions could halt the talks before they had even started.
Earlier, the US said violence had fallen dramatically since a cessation of hostilities began two weeks ago.
The main Syrian opposition umbrella group, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), said on Friday it would push for an interim government with full executive powers in which President Bashar al-Assad and the current leadership would have no role.
The fate of President Assad has been one of the main stumbling blocks in previous rounds of tentative talks.
UN special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura has said he wants to see presidential elections in the next 18 months, but on Saturday Mr Muallem dismissed the idea.
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage captionSyrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem says only Syrians can decide their president
"Neither he nor anyone else has the right to talk about presidential elections. This is an exclusive right of the Syrian people,'' he said.
He described the opposition's demands for an interim government with full executive powers as a "red line".
"If this is what they [the opposition] think, I advise them not to come to the negotiations so that they don't make us tired and we don't make them tired," Mr Muallem said.
He said the Syrian government delegation would return to Damascus within 24 hours if the opposition did not turn up.
HNC spokesman Monzer Makhous accused Mr Muallem of "putting the nails in the coffin of Geneva".
Getty Images
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