UN envoy: Syria constitution drafting committee to meet in October

Invitations have been issued for a sixth meeting of the committee charged with producing a new constitution for war-torn Syria, United Nations special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, said yesterday.

“We should all now expect the Constitutional Committee to begin to work seriously on a process of drafting – not just preparing – a constitutional reform,” Pedersen told the Security Council.

Two years ago, Syrian regime and opposition representatives began consultations to draft a new constitution and find a political solution to the civil war, but have made little progress.

Pedersen said he has been talking with the relevant parties for eight months to get the process back on track, adding that they finally have an agreement and will meet on 18 October.

The fifth round of the meetings was held in Geneva at the end of January, with no results.

At the time, Pedersen described the round as “disappointing”, while five European countries blamed the Syrian regime for the lack of substantial progress in the committee’s work.

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