Syrian Constitutional Committee\ Archives - Iran News Daily

Syrian Constitutional Committee ‘On Hold’ for COVID-19 Positive Tests

reporter 1222 — Tue, 25 Aug 2020 13:05:36 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The Syrian Constitutional Committee, which began its first session in nine months in Geneva on Monday as part of efforts to find a political solution to the Syrian crisis war, was swiftly put “on hold” after three members tested positive for COVID-19, the United Nations said.

On Monday, US Syria envoy James Jeffrey told reporters that the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had agreed to take part in the week-long Syrian Constitutional Committee amid COVID-19 outbreak.

The session, organized by UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen, is aimed at making make progress in drafting a new Syrian charter to pave the way for UN-sponsored elections, in line with a stalled 2015 UN Security Council resolution.

The office of UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen did not identify which three of the 45 members of the Constitutional Committee were infected. One third is nominated by the Syrian government, one third by the opposition, and one third by civil society.

“Committee members were tested before they travelled to Geneva, and they were tested again on arrival, and the wearing of masks and strict social distancing measures were in place when they met at the Palais des Nations,” the statement said, Reuters reported.

“Following a constructive first meeting, the Third Session of the Constitutional Committee is currently on hold. The Office of the Special Envoy will make a further announcement in due course,” it said, adding that Swiss authorities had been informed and contact-tracing was underway.

The post Syrian Constitutional Committee ‘On Hold’ for COVID-19 Positive Tests appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Syrian Government, Opposition Groups Meet to Discuss New Constitution

reporter 1222 — Mon, 24 Aug 2020 08:58:55 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Syrian government and opposition delegations were resuming meetings Monday in Geneva to discuss a possible new constitution — a step seen by the UN mediator as a prospective “door-opener” to a final resolution of the country’s devastating nine-year war.

The UN’s Syria envoy, Geir Pedersen, is hosting 15-member teams from Syria, while major regional and world powers — Iran, Russia, Turkey and the United States — are expected to be present on the sidelines during the week-long gathering at the UN offices in Geneva, AP reported.

With a fragile cease-fire largely holding in the rebel-held region of Idlib, Pedersen said last week he is hoping to build “trust and confidence” in a UN-led process that has produced few concrete results so far.

The meeting is the first of its kind in nine months, before the COVID-19 outbreak forced the postponement of one planned in March. Participants were to be tested for the coronavirus before and after arrival in Geneva.

A larger group of 150 delegates is also part of the process, but is not meeting this week.

The post Syrian Government, Opposition Groups Meet to Discuss New Constitution appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Syrian constitutional committee will dialogize the situation

reporter 1222 — Sun, 03 Nov 2019 05:31:07 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Ahmad Dastmalchian, Iran’s former ambassador to Lebanon, has said that the Syrian constitutional committee is very important, because it will replace bullets with dialogue.

In an interview with IRNA published on Saturday, he said, “Initiative of the Astana talks which was created by Iran, Russia, and Turkey to settle the Syrian crisis shows that multilateralism can be an important basis for peace, diplomacy, and dialogue.”

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced the formation of the constitutional committee on September 23.

The Syrian constitutional committee met on Wednesday for the first time under UN auspices to chart a political settlement to end the eight-and-a-half-year civil war.

The meeting in Geneva is being overseen by the UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pederson.

The first meeting the committee, composed of government and opposition members as well as civil society, is a step forward in what the United Nations says will be a long road to political rapprochement.

Mohammad Javad Zarif, Sergey Lavrov, and Mevlut Cavusoglu, respectively the foreign ministers of Iran, Russia, and Turkey issued a joint statement on Tuesday reaffirming commitment to Syria’s territorial integrity and supporting the work of the constitutional committee.

The statement was issued after a trilateral meeting with Pedersen in Geneva.

Part of the statement said Iran, Russia and Turkey “welcomed the formation the Constitutional Committee and its convening in Geneva on 30 October 2019 as a result of the decisive contribution of the Astana guarantors and the implementation of the decisions of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi and appreciated in this regard the efforts of the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Syria.”

The sides also “reaffirmed their determination to support the work of the Constitutional Committee through continuous interaction with the Syrian parties and the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria in order to ensure its sustainable and effective work.”

The post Syrian constitutional committee will dialogize the situation appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Iran, Russia, Turkey agree on Syria constitutional body

reporter 1222 — Wed, 19 Dec 2018 07:30:25 +0000

The foreign ministers of Russia, Iran and Turkey said on Tuesday that a new Syrian Constitutional Committee should convene early next year, kicking off a viable political peace process.

In a joint statement read out by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after the trio met UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura in Geneva, they said that the work of the new body “should be governed by a sense of compromise and constructive engagement,” Reuters reported.

The meeting between the foreign ministers of the three countries, who launched the Astana peace process to end the Syrian conflict, and the UN diplomat could pave the way for the drafting of a new constitution and for elections after a nearly eight-year-old devastating war in Syria.

The UN-backed constitutional committee will include 50 members chosen by Damascus, 50 by the opposition and 50 by the United Nations.

Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has asked Iran and Russia to “stop the interference of some Western states” as Syria is setting up a committee tasked with negotiating a new post-war constitution.

Assad stressed the importance of “efforts exerted by the friendly and allied countries of Syria, particularly Iran and Russia” as he met Hossein Jaberi Ansari, a senior adviser to the Iranian foreign minister, in Damascus on Sunday.

The post Iran, Russia, Turkey agree on Syria constitutional body appeared first on Iran News Daily.