UN envoy urges Syria to rejoin Geneva talks

Visiting UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen urged Damascus on Sunday to rejoin talks to revise the country’s constitution, warning that political dialogue was going “in the wrong direction.”

Syria’s war, which began 13 years ago with the repression of pro-democracy protests, has killed more than 500,000 people, displaced millions and ravaged the country’s economy, infrastructure and industry.

Pedersen has been trying to make progress with a so-called constitutional committee for Syria to rewrite or amend the war-torn country’s constitution since October 2019, with little success.

The Geneva talks halted in 2022 after Damascus ally Moscow had objected to the meeting being held in Switzerland, questioning its neutrality after it imposed sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine.

“The situation in Syria now is extremely difficult, and I think all indicators are pointing in the wrong direction when it comes to security, when it comes to the economy and when it comes to the political process,” Pedersen told reporters
in Damascus.

“We should continue to meet in Geneva and develop the constitutional committee and the work of the committee,” Pedersen said after meeting with Syrian FM.