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Syria: Constitutional Committee Reaches Breakthrough Despite 'Disagreements'

United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Geir O. Pedersen, meets Opposition Co-Chair, Hadi al-Bhara, prior to the meeting of the Syrian Constitutional Committee starting on 30 October 2019 (UN Photo)
United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Geir O. Pedersen, meets Opposition Co-Chair, Hadi al-Bhara, prior to the meeting of the Syrian Constitutional Committee starting on 30 October 2019 (UN Photo)
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Syria: Constitutional Committee Reaches Breakthrough Despite 'Disagreements'

United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Geir O. Pedersen, meets Opposition Co-Chair, Hadi al-Bhara, prior to the meeting of the Syrian Constitutional Committee starting on 30 October 2019 (UN Photo)
United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Geir O. Pedersen, meets Opposition Co-Chair, Hadi al-Bhara, prior to the meeting of the Syrian Constitutional Committee starting on 30 October 2019 (UN Photo)

The Syrian Constitutional Committee agreed on a “code of conduct” draft and the formation of the mini-committee to discuss constitutional reform, despite the “deep differences and lack of trust” between its members.

Delegates of the Syrian regime, opposition, and civil society did not directly refer to the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The government delegation, which asked to be called a “government-backed delegation”, focused on Syria's sovereignty and support for state and military institutions. It also demanded Western countries lift their sanctions.

The opposition speakers pointed to the importance of constitutional reform, change, and discussing constitutional principles and decentralization.

Representatives of the three parties arrived in Geneva early last week, where preliminary meetings of the UN team with the heads of government delegations Ahmed al-Kuzbari and High Negotiations Committee, Hadi al-Bahra.

Meetings on Wednesday inaugurated with an open session that included United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen, Kuzbari, and Bahra, in what was described as a “historic moment”.

On Thursday, Pedersen said after eight and a half years of conflict, there are deep differences, a lot of suspicions, and a lack of trust, but the fact that 150 Syrians have been “sitting together, respecting each other, talking to each other, discussing – according to the agenda that we agreed upon – the future of Syria, I think was quite impressive.”

Following the historic moment on Wednesday, the 150 members of the Committee participated in its first working session Thursday, under the co-chairmanship of two co-chairs from the Government and the Opposition, and with the facilitation of the United Nations.

Pedersen worked hard to make a first breakthrough which resulted in the adoption of the “Code of Conduct” for the Committee and rules of procedures for its co-chairs.

The “Code of Conduct”, which Asharq Al-Awsat received a copy of, includes the members’ commitment to the references and bylaws and must work within the committee in a spirit of respect, cooperation, and good faith.

They must also refrain from any action that may harm other members, or any unethical behavior or breach of public morals.

The participants must refrain from distributing any documents or publications in the conference room as official papers, and must not use their accounts on social media as a means of communication with the Committee.

The second breakthrough was the formation of a 45-member “mini-committee”, which as of Monday, will begin discussing the constitution. The mini-committee included 15 members of each delegation and will formulate proposals which will be approved by the expanded body.

The United Nations did not specify a time frame for the work of the Committee, which will be governed by consensus to achieve the general agreement of its members.

The Committee will conduct its work and adopt its decisions by consensus wherever possible, or else a 75 percent vote.

President Assad told state television on Thursday that the elections will be fully under the supervision of the Syrian state. He added that the government “is not part” of the ongoing Geneva negotiations and that the Damascus delegation “represents the government's view.”

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Arab World

Former Syrian President Assad Sentenced to Death in Absentia

A woman uses her mobile phone near a damaged picture of ousted Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad as people celebrate, after the Syrian opposition announced that they have ousted President Bashar al-Assad, in Qamishli, Syria December 8, 2024. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
A woman uses her mobile phone near a damaged picture of ousted Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad as people celebrate, after the Syrian opposition announced that they have ousted President Bashar al-Assad, in Qamishli, Syria December 8, 2024. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
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Former Syrian President Assad Sentenced to Death in Absentia

A woman uses her mobile phone near a damaged picture of ousted Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad as people celebrate, after the Syrian opposition announced that they have ousted President Bashar al-Assad, in Qamishli, Syria December 8, 2024. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
A woman uses her mobile phone near a damaged picture of ousted Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad as people celebrate, after the Syrian opposition announced that they have ousted President Bashar al-Assad, in Qamishli, Syria December 8, 2024. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman

A Syrian court sentenced in absentia ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad along with his younger brother to death on Tuesday for crimes against humanity and war crimes during Syria’s 14-year conflict that left about half a million people dead. 

Also sentenced to death in the same case was Assad’s maternal cousin Atef Najib for leading the crackdown in the southern province of Daraa that led to the uprising and later the civil war. 

Amid tight security, Najib stood inside a cage wearing a prisoner’s uniform as the judge read the sentence. 

Assad and his brother Maher fled to Russia after insurgents marched into Damascus in December 2014. 

Najib was later detained and became one of the highest-ranking officials to be put on trial. 

Najib is a former Syrian army brigadier general who was head of the Political Security Branch in southern Syria’s Daraa province under Assad in 2011. 

Arab World

Lebanon’s Ali al-Taher Back at Center of Escalation

The Ali al-Taher Heights, located east of the city of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, with the towns of Kafr Tebnit and Nabatieh al-Fawqa in the foreground. (Asharq Al-Awsat).
The Ali al-Taher Heights, located east of the city of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, with the towns of Kafr Tebnit and Nabatieh al-Fawqa in the foreground. (Asharq Al-Awsat).
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Lebanon’s Ali al-Taher Back at Center of Escalation

The Ali al-Taher Heights, located east of the city of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, with the towns of Kafr Tebnit and Nabatieh al-Fawqa in the foreground. (Asharq Al-Awsat).
The Ali al-Taher Heights, located east of the city of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, with the towns of Kafr Tebnit and Nabatieh al-Fawqa in the foreground. (Asharq Al-Awsat).

Intensified Israeli operations have thrust the Ali al-Taher Heights back to the forefront of tensions in southern Lebanon, days after the town of Mansouri came under Israeli attack.

Repeated artillery fire and strikes have targeted the heights and surrounding areas amid Israeli claims of underground military facilities in the area.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday that his army was carrying out a “highly important operation” in Lebanon, specifically citing the targeting of operatives at Ali al-Taher.

Some assessments link the intensity of Israeli operations to the area’s strategic importance and the possibility that Israel may seek to expand its control there. Others view the developments within the broader issue of Hezbollah’s weapons, while the US position remains a key factor in determining the scope and timing of any wider Israeli action.

Heavy shelling

Ali al-Taher came under intense Israeli artillery fire overnight Sunday into Monday, continuing until dawn. Local reports said that more than 70 shells struck the area. The attacks continued Monday morning with drone strikes, while shelling hit the area between Zawtar and Mayfadoun.

Netanyahu adviser Dmitry Gendelman maintained that “Israel would remain in the security zone and act independently to dismantle Hezbollah’s military infrastructure.

Gendelman said Ali al-Taher contained a Hezbollah command center, and claimed the destruction of a tunnel complex beneath Beaufort Castle, along with operations targeting the group’s infrastructure, personnel and weapons.

Israeli claims of having seized the hill come amid conflicting accounts over the nature of its presence there and underground facilities in the area. Reports have suggested that operatives remain inside a facility and that efforts are underway to encircle them and cut supply routes.

Missed opportunity

Retired Brig. Gen. Yaarob Sakher said Lebanon missed a “golden opportunity” at Ali al-Taher, arguing that Hezbollah could have handed the area over to the Lebanese Army as an additional pilot zone.

“There was a golden opportunity for Lebanon at Ali al-Taher,” Sakher told Asharq Al-Awsat. “Hezbollah could have handed it over to the Lebanese Army, which would enter and take control, but the party refused.”

In his assessment, the refusal gave Israel an opportunity to harden its position. He added that Hezbollah is unlikely to surrender the area because of its military significance.

“We do not know everything that is there, but Ali al-Taher appears to contain what could be described as a major operations room, alongside an extensive tunnel network believed to connect with other areas,” he explained.

Sakher added that circulating information points to the possible presence of weapons and ammunition depots and senior personnel, noting that Hezbollah’s determination to hold the area suggests it carries considerable importance.

Beyond Ali al-Taher

Retired Brig. Gen. Khaled Hamadeh, by contrast, cautioned against reducing the escalation to the fate of the heights, viewing the intensified bombardment as part of a broader Israeli course of action.

“The issue goes beyond Ali al-Taher, and we are heading toward further escalation,” Hamadeh told Asharq Al-Awsat, linking the developments to Israeli operations in other southern areas, including Mansouri and Zawtar.

In his view, Israel “will not allow any security or military surprise in areas it considers sensitive,” and the operations are intended to send a message beyond any single position on the ground.

“The fundamental issue is not Ali al-Taher or any particular military position, but Hezbollah’s weapons,” he stressed.

Israel is acting on the premise that the framework agreement with Lebanon requires the weapons to be addressed and that the current situation will leave the door open to further strikes, he remarked.

“The main problem lies in the lack of political will to disarm Hezbollah,” he added.

Arab World

Iraq Suspects Drone Attack Destroyed Tank Ammunition Stockpile Amid ‘Silent Battle’ With Militias

The Iraqi army takes part in a previous parade featuring US-made Abrams tanks (Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office) 
The Iraqi army takes part in a previous parade featuring US-made Abrams tanks (Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office) 
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Iraq Suspects Drone Attack Destroyed Tank Ammunition Stockpile Amid ‘Silent Battle’ With Militias

The Iraqi army takes part in a previous parade featuring US-made Abrams tanks (Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office) 
The Iraqi army takes part in a previous parade featuring US-made Abrams tanks (Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office) 

Iraqi authorities suspect a drone attack caused an explosion at a strategic ammunition depot at Camp Taji military base north of Baghdad in early August, security and intelligence sources said, inflicting extensive damage on stocks of ammunition for Iraqi army tanks and armored vehicles. Authorities had initially attributed the blaze to high temperatures.

Investigators now believe an unidentified drone was flying over the base shortly before an ammunition depot belonging to the 9th Armored Division exploded, destroying large quantities of ammunition for armored vehicles and US-made Abrams tanks, the sources said.

Two officers told Asharq Al-Awsat that investigators reviewed thermal-camera footage from the base showing a flying object approaching from the south shortly before the depot exploded.

“We lost most of our tank ammunition,” one officer said. “The 9th Armored Division now has no stockpile of shells — not even a single round — apart from the ammunition currently inside the tanks.”

Another intelligence officer said the depot was “most likely targeted by a drone.”

Iraq’s official news agency had quoted Defense and Interior Ministry officials on Aug. 2 as saying that high temperatures had caused a fire at an ammunition depot inside Camp Taji.

Although the initial account ruled out an attack, a senior military official told Asharq Al-Awsat that intelligence agencies were conducting a technical investigation to establish the circumstances.

Officials now view the incident as one of several signs that armed factions are attempting to “strip official security institutions of their weapons advantage.”

The targeted depot contained about 50,000 rounds, according to the sources, forming the main ammunition stockpile for one of the Iraqi army’s most important combat divisions. The full extent of the losses remains unclear.

The 9th Armored Division, based in Taji, is one of the army’s principal intervention units. A significant part of its arsenal is US-made, notably Abrams tanks and M113 armored personnel carriers.

Asharq Al-Awsat learned that Iraq recently sought urgent procurement contracts to replenish ammunition shortages, including rounds for US-made tanks and armored vehicles. The request is believed to be linked to losses from the Taji incident.

Neither the Defense Ministry spokesman nor the head of Iraq’s Security Media Cell responded to requests for comment.

Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Miqdad Miri, however, told a news conference Monday that “any drone launched without authorization will be treated as terrorism,” stressing that “all weapons must be under state control.”

‘Silent Battle’

An intelligence official told Asharq Al-Awsat that preliminary investigations found that an armed group had used a location south of Baghdad to launch the drone toward Taji.

Security and political officials said the attack pointed to efforts by factions resisting disarmament to deprive regular forces of military assets that give them an advantage over irregular groups.

The sources said armed factions were making contingency plans for any confrontation with Iraqi security forces, seeking to eliminate assets — including tank ammunition — that could tip the balance in favor of government forces.

An official in the Coordination Framework said the Iraqi government was engaged in a “silent and sensitive battle with hard-line groups” but wanted to avoid an open confrontation because of the domestic and regional risks.

A political official quoted the leader of an armed faction opposed to the government’s weapons-control plan as saying his group and others were prepared for a military confrontation if the government or the United States used force to disarm them.

Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has set Sept. 30, 2026, as the deadline for US forces to withdraw from Iraq and for armed factions to place their weapons under state control.

Kataib Hezbollah, Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada and Harakat al-Nujaba, all aligned with Iran, continue to reject handing over their weapons. Activists close to the groups say the Axis of Resistance will not disarm even after US forces leave, while some have openly called, in a defiant reversal of the government’s policy, for “the state’s weapons to be placed in the hands of the factions.”