Baladi News - Journals
The 11th round of Syria peace talks started yesterday with a meeting between Syria's Bashar Assad regime and representatives of the regime's main backer - Russia - in Astana, the Kazakh capital.
Prior to the meeting, Alexander Lavrentiev, the Russian president's special envoy for Syria, told reporters that the establishment of a constitutional committee for a new constitution, the cease-fire in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, the problems of refugees and the fight against terrorism will be discussed.
A meeting of the Astana Working Group, established for the release of prisoners, is also expected. The meeting will evaluate a pilot project that saw the mutual and simultaneous release of Syrian detainees both from the Bashar Assad regime and opposition sides on Saturday. The project - the Release of Detainees/Abductees, Handover of Bodies and Identification of Missing Persons - was established as part of the Astana process with the participation of Turkey, Russia and Iran, the three guarantor countries, and the U.N., according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry.
On Tuesday, the U.N. said its outgoing Syria envoy Staffan De Mistura will meet with top officials from the guarantor countries to establish a committee to write a new constitution for the war-torn country. Earlier yesterday, Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry announced the arrival of all parties in Astana.
Source: Daily Sabah