Reuters

Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, seen as a key mediator, will also join the talks, an official told the Reuters news agency.

"In one of the paediatric rooms, there were three babies and three mums on a single bed, one source of oxygen, and the mothers would rotate the oxygen 20 minutes to each child," he told Reuters news agency.

Eric Wen told Reuters that three people in his group suffered from hypothermia even though they were adequately dressed.

Election observers told Reuters news agency that two members of Assad's Alawite sect and several ethnic Kurds also won seats.

Nine Swiss nationals who returned to Geneva on Sunday also complained about what they called the "inhumane detention conditions and the humiliating and degrading treatment", Reuters news agency cited a statement as saying.