Breakthrough in selecting Syrian Constitutional Committee to 'end war'

A decision on which members will make up the Syrian constitutional committee are close to being finalised, following an announcement from the Turkish foreign minister, signalling an important step forward in the faltering 18-month peace effort.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusolgu said on Thursday that the deadlock over selecting the final six names for the committee had been resolved, meanwhile Russian sources claimed there had been an "important breakthrough" at meetings between the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The 150-member committee, intended to include members across political and societal factors, will be tasked with drafting a constitution for post-war Syria, a key development towards ending the eight-year conflict.

Discussions on the committee have been bogged down in disagreements between the UN and Bashar al-Assad's regime over the composition of three lists of members from the regime, opposition and civil society and religious groups.

The regime and the opposition have each finalised their 50 names, however the remaining list - composed of civil society and religious groups - has been hotly contested by each side.

However Pederson told Russia's TASS news agency on Thursday he is "quietly hopeful" the list of members will be finalised "soon".

A Russian source close to the Syrian negotiation confirmed to The New Arab a dispute over the final six members had been resolved, and will likely be announced upon Pedersen’s visit to Damascus beginning 10 July.

According to the source, the Syrian regime and its Russian backers will select two members, while Pedersen will appoint the other four in consultation with the UN Security Council those involved in the Astana process, namely Turkey, Iran and Russia.

Pedersen said he would soon meet with the Syrian regime and opposition to finalise the remaining details for the committee.

In a statement given on Thursday, he said the Constitutional Committee will be "a very important door opener for the political process". 

The Security Council has overseen a series of stalled diplomatic initiatives to end the war in Syria, now in its ninth year. More than 500,000 people have been killed and half of the country's population displaced during the war, most from regime bombing and shelling.

Source: The New Arab.