On Sunday, Syria underlined that a statement by the US State Department at a session of the Committee to Discuss the Constitution held in Geneva is an attempt by Washington to once again interfere in the states’ affairs and impose its own agenda.
An official source at Foreign and Expatriates Ministry said in a statement to SANA that any opinions or statements by the United States or others are of no value and will not affect the work of the Committee and the nature of its dialogues and its form and content.
The Government of the Syrian Arab Republic confirms that this dialogue is a Syrian-Syrian one and no one has the right to interfere in it or support any party under any pretext, the source said.
The source concluded by emphasizing that the role of the United Nations, represented by its Special Envoy Geir Pedersen, is limited to facilitating the Committee’s discussions only.
Comment from The Syrian Observer
The US Department of State had issued this statement on Sunday:
The United States continues to support the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, and the UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, in their efforts to facilitate the work of the Syria Constitutional Committee. This past week, the drafting committees had the second round of meetings which were meant to move the process forward of drafting a constitution that reflects the will of the entirety of the Syrian people.
The Assad regime delegation came to the second round requesting preconditions before they were willing to meet to discuss these constitutional principles. The requested preconditions from the Assad regime clearly violate the constitutional committee’s rules of procedure, and are a blatant attempt to delay the work of an important effort that is supported by both the Small Group and Astana Group.
The constitutional committee cannot be the only UN Security Council Resolution 2254 line of effort pursued by the international community. Other elements of the resolution must be pursued in parallel including the release of detainees, a nationwide ceasefire, and establishing a safe and neutral environment in order for a free and fair elections under UN full supervision.
This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
