No timeframe for launch of Syrian constitutional committee: UN chief

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said there is no timeframe to launch the constitutional committee in Syria, but the work needs to be done as quickly as possible.

The UN chief told a press conference at UN headquarters in New York on Friday that Syria needs a constitutional committee that is "indeed balanced" and accepted by all Syrian people, Xinhua news agency reported.

Guterres said additional consultations will be needed since the UN's list for the constitutional committee was rejected by the Syrian government last year.

Geir Pedersen, the new UN envoy for Syria, will visit Moscow next week to discuss the work of the Syrian constitutional committee with the Russian government.

Pedersen just visited Damascus for two days this week and held talks with the Syrian leadership. Guterres said the talks were "very constructive."

"There is no resolution to Syrian problem without political solution, and the UN has a key role to play," said the UN chief, adding that the work of UN is not to "find a plan B," so the plan of Syrian constitutional committee has to work.

The launch of Syrian constitutional committee has become the centrepiece of UN peace efforts in the country, and its goal is to set up elections that can end seven years of devastating war.

--IANS

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