New York, Sep 24: United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has on Monday announced the formation of Syria’s “credible, balanced and inclusive” constitutional committee – slated to include members from President Bashar al-Assad’s government and opposition, facilitated by the UN commission in Geneva.
On the sidelines of the ongoing 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session in New York, Guterres said, “I’m pleased to announce the agreement of the government of the Syrian Arab Republic and the Syrian Negotiations Commission for a credible, balanced and inclusive Constitutional Committee that will be facilitated by the UN in Geneva.”
“I firmly believe that the launching of a Syrian-organised and Syrian-led constitutional committee can be the beginning of a political path towards a solution [to the conflict],” he added.
The development came a week after he declared an arrangement has been reached keeping in mind “the composition of the committee” between the government of the Syrian Negotiations Commission and the Syrian Arab Republic, according to Al-Jazeera news reports.
Earlier on Monday, Syrian foreign minister Walid al-Moallem met UN special representative Geir Pederson to discuss all issues surrounding the formation of the new council.
Syria’s state-run SANA news agency reported the talks focused over the body’s set-up and guarantees that no international force would interfere in the regional matters.