UN envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, is working for a seventh round of the Constitutional Committee, despite the results of previous rounds, which he described as “disappointing.”
Over the past few days, Pedersen has made contacts with officials of the countries involved in the Syrian issue, in addition to his intention to visit Damascus.
According to the al-Watan newspaper, which is close to Assad, Pedersen will arrive in Damascus next Tuesday and meet with the regime’s foreign minister, Faisal al-Mekdad. They will discuss the possibility of holding the seventh round before the end of the year.
However, the newspaper quoted diplomatic sources as saying that the round would be postponed to February next year due to Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
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Pedersen also made a phone call with Ali Asghar Khaji, the senior assistant to the Iranian Foreign Minister for Special Political Affairs, on Saturday.
According to Iran’s Mehr news agency, they discussed the political process and constitutional committee meetings, while the Iranian official called for lifting sanctions on the regime and rebuilding infrastructure to improve the humanitarian situation in the country and the return of refugees.
The phone call came three days after similar talks between the UN envoy and the Russian President’s Special Representative for the Middle East and Africa Affairs, Mikhail Bogdanov.
According to a statement issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry, the two sides discussed, in a phone call, a solution to the crisis in Syria, on the basis of UN Security Council Resolution No. 2254, and paying special attention to the work of the Constitutional Committee in Geneva.
By intensifying his contacts, Pedersen is seeking to resume meetings of the Constitutional Committee and hold the seventh round, despite previous rounds that have not yielded results.
The sixth round was held in October and lasted for five days, in which they discussed the basic principles of the Constitution. However, like its predecessors, the talk did not reach new results.
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.
