GENEVA (AP) — A Syrian foreign ministry official says a government delegation will arrive in Geneva to take part in direct peace talks with the opposition.

The official said in Damascus that the delegation will take part in talks starting Wednesday afternoon and the delegation will be headed by Bashar Ja'afari, Syria's representative at the United Nations.

The Geneva talks are scheduled to begin Tuesday and the unified opposition delegation has already arrived.

In Geneva, three diplomats said representatives of the five permanent U.N. Security Council members were meeting to discuss the talks that were set to begin later Tuesday with a meeting between U.N. Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura and the opposition.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly to the media.