Syria says will leave if no 'serious sessions' at Geneva before Saturday

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem was quoted by state television on Friday as telling international mediator Lakhdar Brahimi that if no serious work sessions were held by Saturday, the government delegation would leave. Brahimi and a Syrian government delegation met on Friday at the United Nations in Geneva, a witness said, and the mediator is due to meet the Syrian opposition delegation later on Friday. State television said the meeting was characterized by a "positive atmosphere." "If no serious work sessions are held by (Saturday), the official Syrian delegation will leave Geneva due to the other side's lack of seriousness or preparedness," state television quoted Moualem as saying, citing a United Nations source. (Reporting by Stephen Kalin and Erika Solomon; Editing by Mike Collett-White)