Syria Opposition Presents ‘Roadmap’ for Peace

Destruction in Syria. (Reuters)
Destruction in Syria. (Reuters)
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Syria Opposition Presents ‘Roadmap’ for Peace

Destruction in Syria. (Reuters)
Destruction in Syria. (Reuters)

The Syrian opposition announced on Monday a “roadmap” for peace that will be presented to key players in the conflict over the next two weeks.

The initiative includes steps to be taken ahead of an election and guidelines for a plan to write the country's post-war constitution.

The roadmap was drawn up by representatives of the opposition invited to Rome by the Catholic Sant'Egidio community.

The roadmap presented by the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), the main opposition force, as well as several minor groups, details the shape a new government and parliament could take.

It calls for the make-up of the committee to "reflect the composition of the country" and says all "arrangements/rules/law aiming at dissolving/obstructing/impeding the political activities of the opposition" must be scrapped.

The commission, within a nine-month timeframe, should not only prepare the constitution but also draft party and electoral law.

A new transitional government should organize general and presidential elections through an election commission set up by the committee under the supervision of the UN, it said.

It also called for a "general amnesty" and the "abolition of all laws, legislations and procedures aimed at prosecuting and punishing the participants of the events in Syria" since 2011, as well as the safe and voluntary return of refugees.

The leaders of Turkey, Russia, France and Germany on Saturday called for a political solution to the devastating seven-year civil war and a lasting ceasefire in the last major opposition-held bastion of Idlib.

Their statement called for a committee to be established to draft Syria's post-war constitution before the end of the year, "paving the way for free and fair elections" in the war-torn country.

A rival UN plan for a committee to write the constitution ran aground last week, with UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura saying Damascus rejected the UN having a role in the selection process.

Over 360,000 people have been killed in the conflict since 2011.



EU Condemns Israel's West Bank Control Measures

The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)
The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)
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EU Condemns Israel's West Bank Control Measures

The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)
The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)

The European Union on Monday condemned new Israeli measures to tighten control of the West Bank and pave the way for more settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, AFP reported.

"The European Union condemns recent decisions by Israel's security cabinet to expand Israeli control in the West Bank. This move is another step in the wrong direction," EU spokesman Anouar El Anouni told journalists.


Atrocities in Sudan's El-Fasher Were 'Preventable Human Rights Catastrophe'

Sudanese displaced people who left El Fasher after its fall, sit in the shade in Tawila at the Rwanda camp reception point on December 17, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Sudanese displaced people who left El Fasher after its fall, sit in the shade in Tawila at the Rwanda camp reception point on December 17, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
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Atrocities in Sudan's El-Fasher Were 'Preventable Human Rights Catastrophe'

Sudanese displaced people who left El Fasher after its fall, sit in the shade in Tawila at the Rwanda camp reception point on December 17, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Sudanese displaced people who left El Fasher after its fall, sit in the shade in Tawila at the Rwanda camp reception point on December 17, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

The atrocities unleashed on El-Fasher in Sudan's Darfur region last October were a "preventable human rights catastrophe", the United Nations said Monday, warning they now risked being repeated in the neighbouring Kordofan region.

 

"My office sounded the alarm about the risk of mass atrocities in the besieged city of El-Fasher for more than a year ... but our warnings were ignored," UN rights chief Volker Turk told the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

 

He added that he was now "extremely concerned that these violations and abuses may be repeated in the Kordofan region".

 

 

 

 


Arab League Condemns Israel's Decisions to Alter Legal, Administrative Status of West Bank

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
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Arab League Condemns Israel's Decisions to Alter Legal, Administrative Status of West Bank

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)

The General Secretariat of the Arab League strongly condemned decisions by Israeli occupation authorities to impose fundamental changes on the legal and administrative status of the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly in the West Bank, describing them as a dangerous escalation and a flagrant violation of international law, international legitimacy resolutions, and signed agreements, SPA reported.

In a statement, the Arab League said the measures include facilitating the confiscation of private Palestinian property and transferring planning and licensing authorities in the city of Hebron and the area surrounding the Ibrahimi Mosque to occupation authorities.

It warned of the serious repercussions of these actions on the rights of the Palestinian people and on Islamic and Christian holy sites.

The statement reaffirmed the Arab League’s firm support for the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, foremost among them the establishment of their independent state on the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.