MESOPOTAMIA NEWS LATEST TODAY : UN Syrian envoy to make final constitution appeal in Astana
By Rudaw 19 minutes ago – 27 Nov 2018 – ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The United Nation’s outgoing special envoy to Syria will attend the latest round of Astana talks in a last ditch effort to form a constitutional committee that will tackle the enormous task of finding a political solution to the more than seven-year-long conflict.
“The presence of the Special Envoy in Astana will be in a spirit of not leaving any stone unturned and maximising the chances of the Istanbul Joint Statement to be upheld,” read a statement from the office of Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura confirming he will attend the 11th round of talks in the Kazakh capital on Wednesday and Thursday.
The leaders of France, Germany, Russia, and Turkey met in Istanbul in October to discuss Syria. The called the constitutional committee to be established and hold a meeting before the end of the year. The constitutional committee hit a snag last month when Damascus rejected UN involvement in establishing the body. The planned committee would bring together 50 members appointed by the regime, 50 from the opposition, and 50 selected by the UN that would include civil society representatives and experts. On a visit to the Syrian capital in October, de Mistura was clearly told Syria would not accept a UN role in drawing up the committee and instead demanded the third group be compiled by the government in coordination with the Astana guarantors – Russia, Iran, and Turkey.
De Mistura said he hoped the coming meeting in Astana will speed up finalization of the constitutional committee. “He strongly appeals to the three countries to do what needs to be done now to support the UN-facilitated political process,” read the statement from his office. Syria’s representative to the UN Bashar al-Jaafari arrived in Astana on Tuesday to attend the meeting, state media SANA reported. De Mistura will depart the post of special envoy at the end of November to be replaced by Norwegian diplomat Geri Pedersen.