US, 6 others call for constitutional committee on Syria

The foreign ministers of the United States, the United Kingdom, Egypt, France, Germany, Jordan and Saudi Arabia pressed for the establishment for a constitutional committee to advance the United Nation's efforts to achieve a political solution to the conflict in Syria.

According to a joint statement by the seven countries, "the Syrian conflict has dragged on for more than seven years at the expense of hundreds of thousands of lives lost and millions forcibly displaced by violence both within Syria and beyond its borders. There is an urgent need for concerted diplomacy and international political will to end the conflict. There is no military solution to the war and no alternative to a political solution."

The statement added that a military solution will further aggravate the dangerous situation and wider conflagration of the crisis to the region and beyond.

"To that end, we call on the UN and the Office of the Special Envoy for Syria to convene, as quickly as possible, a credible, inclusive constitutional committee that will begin the work of drafting a new Syrian constitution and laying the groundwork for free and fair UN-supervised elections in a safe and neutral environment in which all eligible Syrians - including those in the diaspora - have a right to participate. We urge the UN Special Envoy for Syria to report back to the Security Council on his progress no later than October 31," it said.

The foreign ministers of the seven nations called on the "UN Secretary-General and the UN Security Council to move forward with convening a constitutional committee, and encourage all sides to ensure the Syrian parties are prepared to engage substantively in the committee's proceedings once convened.