MONTREUX, Switzerland — From its early moments on Wednesday, the long-delayed peace conference on Syria was marked by acrimony when Syria’s foreign minister described Syrian rebels as “evil” and ignored appeals by Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general, to avoid invective or even to yield the floor. 
 
 By the end of the day, the sense that the new peace talks were headed for trouble was compounded when the proceedings ended without any hint of progress toward imposing local cease-fires or opening humanitarian corridors for the delivery of food and medicine to besieged towns and cities. 
 
 In an evening news conference here, Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations, Bashar Jaafari, said that stopping terrorism, not sharing power, needed to be the priority when Syrian government officials sat down with the Syrian opposition on Friday to discuss a political solution to the bloody conflict, a stance that also appeared to promise more confrontation. 
 
 Putting the best face on the meeting, Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters on Wednesday night that it was significant that senior diplomats from 40 countries and organizations had gathered in the lakeside Swiss city of Montreux, to initiate the conference. Mr. Kerry insisted that he had always known that the talks would be “tough” and described the conference as a “process,” which he implied could last for months or even years. 
 
 Several Syrians also expressed hope that the conference signaled the start of a process in which Syrians might eventually overcome their differences. 
 
 “It’s a historic moment,” said Ibrahim al-Hamidi, a veteran journalist for the Saudi-owned newspaper Al Hayat who is originally from the northern Syrian city of Idlib. “After three years of military struggle, when the opposition tried very hard to destroy the regime, and the regime tried very hard to crush the opposition, this is the first time the two delegations sit down in one room under U.N. auspices.” 
 
 But it was hard to escape the sense that the conditions for a productive negotiation between the Syrian government and the opposition had yet to be set. Mr. Kerry tried to set a positive tone on the eve of the conference by engaging in a calculated display of comity with Mr. Ban and Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister — a gesture that appeared intended to play down the lobbying effort by the United States to persuade the United Nations to withdraw its invitation to Iran to attend the meeting. “Do we look happy?” Mr. Lavrov quipped as the three held hands for a photo. 
 
 But when the conference opened on Wednesday sharp differences came to the fore. Mr. Kerry said it was unthinkable that President Bashar al-Assad of Syria could play a role in a transitional administration that would govern the country as part of a political settlement. The establishment of such a transitional body by “mutual consent” of the Assad government and the Syrian opposition is the major goal of the conference. “The right to lead a country does not come from torture, nor barrel bombs, nor Scud missiles,” Mr. Kerry said. 
 
 Mr. Lavrov challenged the American insistence that Mr. Assad be excluded from a transitional administration, arguing that the conference had to “refrain from any attempt to predetermine the outcome of the process.” 
 
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 While the stark differences between the American and Russian positions were outlined in civil tones, that diplomatic restraint was abandoned when Walid al-Moallem, the Syrian foreign minister who will lead the Syrian government’s face-to-face talks with the opposition, took the floor and accused Arab nations of financing terrorism and conspiring to destroy his country. 
 
 Speaking for more than 30 minutes, Mr. Moallem also accused insurgents of “sexual jihad” by using brainwashed women as sex slaves and engaging in incest. When Mr. Ban asked that Mr. Moallem wind up his lengthy speech, the Syrian official shot back: “You live in New York, I live in Syria.” 
 
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 After Mr. Ban again urged him to be concise, Mr. Moallem said he would conclude soon, adding that “Syria always keeps its promises.” But he continued with his denunciations of the opposition and Mr. Ban later lamented that his injunction that participants take a constructive approach to the crisis “had been broken.” 
 
 Ahmad Assi al-Jarba, the president of the Syrian opposition, opened with the story of Hajar al-Khatib, 11, who he said was shot by government forces as she rode a bus to school in Rastan near the city of Homs in May 2011. That was in the early days of the protest movement that set off the uprising. “Ten thousand children have died because of the Syrian Army,” he added, singling out not only Mr. Assad but the army, which many pro-government Syrians distinguish from the political leaders as an object of patriotism. 
 
 Mr. Jarba has said from the start that the Syrian opposition will never accept a role for Mr. Assad in a transitional government and he wondered aloud if the negotiators that the Syrian president had sent to Switzerland were prepared to contemplate that outcome. “We want to be sure we have a Syrian partner in this room,” Mr. Jarba said, adding, “Do we have such a partner?” 
 
 Asked whether the United States had any way of putting more leverage on the Assad government, Mr. Kerry suggested that the Obama administration would support “augmented” support for the opposition, among other options. But Mr. Kerry was vague about those options, and the White House has been extremely reluctant to use force in Syria or to even treat the Syria crisis as its principal foreign policy challenge. 
 
 On the sidelines, attempts at dialogue turned to scuffles. Outside, pro-government protesters waved the flags of the Syrian government and Hezbollah and chanted “God, Bashar and nothing else!” An opposition activist, Rami Jarrah, approached them with a television camera and interviewed them. But when he asked if Mr. Assad should be tried for war crimes, they began shouting and pushing. 
 
 Inside, the Syrian information minister, Omran al-Zoubi, was asked by a Syrian opposition journalist from Aleppo, Adnan Hadad, about the barrel bombs that the military had used on neighborhoods in his city, killing hundreds in recent weeks. 
 
 “This is the kind of question you ask if you support the terrorist groups,” Mr. Zoubi said. “Ask the Saudi foreign minister.” 
 
 In an interview, Fayssal Mekdad, the Syrian deputy foreign minister, said he welcomed sitting face to face with the government’s opponents. “We look forward to looking them in the eye,” he said, “and asking them, ‘Who do you represent?’ ” ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon: "Syrians must come together to save their country, protect their children and find a peaceful path to a better future" 
 
 Syria's government and main political opposition have traded bitter accusations on the first day of a major peace conference in Switzerland. 
 
 The opposition and US said President Bashar al-Assad had no legitimacy and must step down from power. 
 
 Syria's foreign minister had a terse exchange with the UN's Ban Ki-moon over the length of his speech and said only Syrians could decide Mr Assad's fate. 
 
 The conflict has left more than 100,000 dead and millions displaced. 
 
 The summit is discussing the Geneva communique which lays out a political transition plan for Syria. 
 
 Analysis This first day of talks was always expected to be somewhat ceremonial, with one formal speech after another. But already predictable fault lines are emerging. Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said his country was engaged in a war against terrorist groups, adding that only the Syrian people could decide on President Assad's future. The opposition leader Ahmad Jarba said the human rights violations in Syria were reminiscent of Nazi Germany, and suggested President Assad's departure was a precondition for peace. These two men won't be in the negotiating room together until Friday, then the talking will be in private, but it's expected to be equally tough. Key figures here - including Ban Ki-moon, John Kerry, Sergei Lavrov and William Hague - have publicly reminded the warring parties of the real price of this conflict. An "all encompassing disaster" said the UN secretary general, which Russia's foreign minister added had caused "incalculable suffering" to the Syrian people. 
 
 Wednesday's initial meeting, involving speeches from 40 or so foreign ministers - has now ended. The direct talks are scheduled to begin in Geneva on Friday. 
 
 At a fractious evening news conference, during which there were repeated calls for calm, Mr Ban spoke of the suffering in Syria, saying: "Enough is enough. The time has come to negotiate." 
 
 He said that "the really hard work begins on Friday", adding: "We have a difficult road ahead, but it can be done and it must be done." 
 
 Mr Ban dwelt on the Geneva communique, which calls for a transitional government in Syria, saying he was disappointed with the attitudes of both the Syrian government and its ally, Iran. 
 
 UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said he would speak to the Syrian government and opposition delegations separately on Thursday and that he hoped both teams would meet in the same room on Friday. 
 
 This would be the first face-to-face meeting between the Syrian government and the main opposition - the National Coalition - since the conflict began in 2011. 
 
 At his press conference, US Secretary of State John Kerry stressed that the Geneva communique and its call for political transition was the paramount focus of the summit. 
 
 "Every delegation, with one exception, embraced the Geneva communique," he said, referring to the Syrian government. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Syria's foreign minister and the Syrian national coalition president delivered angry statements 
 
 "No-one has done more to make Syria a magnet for terrorists than Bashar al-Assad," Mr Kerry said. "You cannot save Syria with Bashar al-Assad in power." 
 
 A member of the Syrian team, UN ambassador Bashar Jaafari, criticised the exclusion of Iran from the meeting, and condemned many of Wednesday's speeches as "provocative and repetitive statements based on hatred towards the Syrian government". 
 
 He also accused Gulf states of "inciting terrorism" in Syria. 
 
 'Inflammatory rhetoric' 
 
 The BBC's Paul Wood, in Montreux, says there were some extraordinarily ill-tempered scenes and some very direct language at the morning meeting. 
 
 Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said some states attending the talks had "Syrian blood on their hands" and called the opposition "traitors". 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption The summit is taking place amid tight security in a Montreux hotel 
 
 Image copyright AP Image caption Outside the conference venue, supporters of President Bashar al-Assad staged a protest 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption Anti-government protesters staged a mock funeral, calling for an immediate ceasefire 
 
 Addressing Mr Kerry, he said: "No-one in the world has the right to confer or withdraw the legitimacy of a president, a constitution or a law, except for the Syrians themselves." 
 
 Mr Muallem ran far over the allotted 10-minute slot for each speaker, ignoring Mr Ban's attempts to intervene. 
 
 Geneva II talks 22 Jan: Conference opens in Montreux. Speeches from all delegates, including Syrian government and opposition 
 
 Conference opens in Montreux. Speeches from all delegates, including Syrian government and opposition Syria chief delegate - Foreign Minister Walid Muallem. Opposition chief delegate - Ahmed Jarba, head of the National Coalition 
 
 24 Jan: Talks to move to Geneva. Negotiations between Syrian delegations begin, moderated by Lakhdar Brahimi. No duration set. Media on Syria talks The story of the conflict Geneva II: Press review 
 
 "You live in New York. I live in Syria," Mr Muallem told the UN secretary general. "I have the right to give the Syrian version here. After three years of suffering, this is my right." 
 
 The US state department condemned Mr Muallem's remarks as "inflammatory rhetoric", and urged the government to take "real, concrete steps to increase humanitarian access and improve the lives of the people suffering the most". 
 
 The head of the National Coalition, Ahmad Jarba, said the Syrian government must sign up to a deal to transfer powers from Mr Assad. 
 
 Mr Jarba said that this would be "the preamble to Bashar al-Assad's resignation and his trial alongside all the criminals of his regime". 
 
 He added: "For the Syrians, time is now blood." 
 
 Mr Jarba displayed a photograph taken from a report by three war crimes investigators which alleged "systematic" torture and execution of opposition detainees in Syria. The report was released on Tuesday but dismissed as not credible by Damascus. 
 
 Geneva Communique A UN-backed meeting in 2012 issued the document and urged Syria to: Form transitional governing body 
 
 Start national dialogue 
 
 Review constitution and legal system 
 
 Hold free and fair elections Syria summit in words More on the Geneva communique Geneva's key role 
 
 Our correspondent says that when the talks go behind closed doors there will perhaps be a more constructive tone - with discussion of practical matters such as ceasefires and access for humanitarian aid. 
 
 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the talks "will not be simple, will not be quick", but that there was "a historic responsibility on the shoulders of all participants". 
 
 He also repeated his insistence that Iran should be involved. 
 
 The UN withdrew its invitation to Iran this week over its refusal to back the Geneva communique. 
 
 Iran's President Hasan Rouhani said on Wednesday that the "lack of influential players" attending meant he doubted "its ability to resolve the Syria crisis".
– With more than 100,000 dead in a divided Syria, government and opposition leaders are in Switzerland today for year-in-the-making international peace talks. Direct talks haven't even begun yet (that comes Friday), but so far, the tone at the "Geneva II" talks has been far from friendly, the BBC reports. "Syria the independent state will do all that is necessary to defend itself," said Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, in a more than 30-minute speech that blew past his 10-minute limit in defiance of Ban Ki-moon's efforts to hold him to it—and Ban's requests that he not use inflammatory language. The New York Times says opening speakers actually only had seven minutes, and that at one point Muallem told Ban, "You live in New York. I live in Syria." Ban wasn't his only target: Muallem added, directly to John Kerry: "No one in the world has the right to confer or withdraw the legitimacy of a president, a constitution, or a law, except for the Syrians themselves." The divisions between the US and Russia also "immediately came to the fore," the Times reports. Kerry said the US sees "only one option: negotiating a transition government born by mutual consent. That means that Bashar al-Assad will not be part of that transition government." Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov countered that the gathering had to "refrain from any attempt to predetermine the outcome of the process." The BBC notes that 40 foreign ministers will speak before the direct talks kick off; it will be the first time the Syrian government comes face-to-face with the opposition Syrian National Coalition since the conflict's 2011 start.