Syria peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi on Monday began talks with Arab League chief Nabil Al-Arabi in Egypt, on his first official trip to the region, dpa reported.
The meeting was taking place at the headquarters of the 22-member pan-Arab bloc in Cairo.
Brahimi, the second special envoy to be appointed by the United Nations and Arab League to mediate in the conflict, was also due meet Syrian opposition figures and Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi.
Brahimi's spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said the envoy would travel to Damascus, but gave not date.
Brahimi last week took over from Kofi Annan, who resigned as Syria envoy in August, complaining of "continuous finger-pointing and name-calling" at the UN Security Council.
A stand-off between the United States and Russia at the Security Council on how to solve the 18-month crisis has cast a shadow over Brahimi's mission.
A car bomb ripped through the al-Malab area in the northern province of Aleppo on Sunday night, killing at least 27 people and wounding 64, state-run media reported.
Television reports said "terrorists," were responsible for the attack.
"These attacks only have a message of destruction and killing innocent people and to force people to leave Syria," Aleppo governor Mohammed Wahid Akkad was quoted as saying.