Pedersen Hopes for Progress at Syria Constitution Talks

UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen gestures while speaking during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia July 22, 2021. Sergei Ilnitsky/Pool via REUTERS
UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen gestures while speaking during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia July 22, 2021. Sergei Ilnitsky/Pool via REUTERS
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Pedersen Hopes for Progress at Syria Constitution Talks

UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen gestures while speaking during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia July 22, 2021. Sergei Ilnitsky/Pool via REUTERS
UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen gestures while speaking during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia July 22, 2021. Sergei Ilnitsky/Pool via REUTERS

Talks on a new constitution for Syria resume this week in Geneva, with the United Nations mediator hopeful of making headway.

Back in October, the sixth round of discussions between 15 representatives each from President Bashar al-Assad's government, the opposition, and civil society, ended with no agreement on how to move things forward.

But UN envoy Geir Pedersen said the two co-chairs -- from the government and the opposition -- had now come up with an improved procedure for finding common ground on the final day of the talks, which will be on Friday.

"Syria remains one of the gravest crises in the world and there is a clear need for progress towards a political solution," Pedersen told reporters on Sunday.

The Syrian Constitutional Committee was created in September 2019 and first convened a month later.

The tentative negotiations are aimed at rewriting the war-torn country's constitution. It is hoped the talks could pave the way towards a broader political process.

"The committee should work in a way that builds trust and confidence," Pedersen said.

"During this session I hope to see the constitutional committee work with a sense of seriousness and purpose and determination to make progress that the situation demands.

"If the three delegations do what they have said they will do, I hope that we can see some steady progress."

This seventh round of talks will focus on four principles: the basics of governance; state identity; state symbols; and the structure and functions of public authorities.

The delegates will spend one day working on each principle, before spending Friday trying to concretize any advances made.

Ahmad Kuzbari, the head of the government delegation, and Syrian opposition negotiations leader Hadi al-Bahra, have co-chaired the talks thus far.

They traded barbs after October's sixth round of talks, pointing the finger at each other for the lack of progress.

But Pedersen said the co-chairs had now reached an understanding on how business should proceed on the last day, namely a better mechanism for revisions of proposed constitutional texts.

"I'm looking forward to seeing on Friday how this will be put into practice," AFP quoted the Norwegian diplomat as saying.

Pedersen met jointly with the co-chairs on Sunday, during which they decided on the four topics to be discussed this week.

That was followed by the three of them holding talks with the 15 civil society representatives.

Pedersen said they were "good meetings" and "hopefully that will make it possible for us to make progress through this week".



Sanaa Airport Director: Losses from Israeli Attack Estimated at Around $500 Million

This handout picture released by Houthi-affiliated media on May 6, 2025, shows a firefighter truck extinguishing fire from a burning airplane at Sanaa international airport.  AFP
This handout picture released by Houthi-affiliated media on May 6, 2025, shows a firefighter truck extinguishing fire from a burning airplane at Sanaa international airport. AFP
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Sanaa Airport Director: Losses from Israeli Attack Estimated at Around $500 Million

This handout picture released by Houthi-affiliated media on May 6, 2025, shows a firefighter truck extinguishing fire from a burning airplane at Sanaa international airport.  AFP
This handout picture released by Houthi-affiliated media on May 6, 2025, shows a firefighter truck extinguishing fire from a burning airplane at Sanaa international airport. AFP

The Director General of Sanaa International Airport Khaled Al-Shaief, said Wednesday that the preliminary losses resulting from the recent Israeli attack on the airport are estimated at around $500 million, according to Houthi-run media.

Al-Shaief confirmed the suspension of all flights to and from Sanaa Airport until further notice due to the damage caused by the attack launched by the Israeli military.
The Israeli strikes resulted in "extensive damage" to the airport, al-Shaief added in a post on X.

The Israeli military bombed the airport on Tuesday, claiming to have disabled the airfield in an attack that left commercial aircraft burning on the tarmac as its fighter jets struck power plants and other targets.
The rare daytime attack on Sanaa came as part of a second day of Israeli airstrikes in response to a Houthi ballistic missile striking the grounds of Ben-Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv. The Houthis described the Israeli attacks as killing at least seven people and wounding 74 others over two days.