Syria talks to start on Friday, U.N. envoy's spokeswoman says

U.N. mediator for Syria Staffan de Mistura gestures during a news conference at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland January 25, 2016. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

GENEVA (Reuters) - Talks on ending the war in Syria will begin on Friday, a spokeswoman for the U.N. envoy who is overseeing the process said on Thursday, although opposition groups had not yet announced that they would attend the negotiations in Geneva. "I just confirmed that the talks will start tomorrow," Khawla Mattar, spokeswoman for the office of U.N. Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura told Reuters in response to an email. Moments earlier, De Mistura's office issued a video message that he had sent to the Syrian people, in which he said the talks were expected to happen "in the next few days". (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; editing by Tom Miles)