Damascus: Anew round of Syria peace talks started Monday in Geneva, in which representatives of the Bashar Assad regime, the opposition and civil society are expected to discuss “national principles.” The talks are set to last for five days and will be followed by another round in January.
On Sunday, the eve of the latest round of talks in Geneva, Geir Pedersen, the United Nations special envoy for Syria, pushed for progress toward revising Syria’s constitution and winding down the country’s nine-year-old civil war.
“We hope that what we have achieved is actually the beginning of starting to build trust between the parties,” Pedersen said, as quoted by the Anadolu Agency (AA), adding that one of the topics of the talks will be principles for a new constitution.
Pedersen also expressed his hope to see progress, in his address to reporters during a virtual news conference. A so-called constitutional committee made up of 45 people, with 15 delegates each representing the Syrian regime, the opposition and civil society, is meeting for the fourth time after months of little headway.
Hadi al-Bahra is heading the opposition, while Ahmad Kuzbari is representing the Syrian regime.
“After nearly 10 years of conflict, there is a deep lack of trust between the parties,” said Pedersen.
“We knew that we would have to overcome this deep mistrust. We knew that that would take time,” he said.
Pedersen said that the building of trust could then be a door to a broader political process. –PNP
