The U.N. Special envoy for Syria said Monday work is still ongoing to form a committee meant to draft a new constitution before the end of the year, adding that hurdles remain in place.
Staffan de Mistura made his comments in Jordan after meeting Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi who said that Jordan's "firm position" is that a political solution must be found, and "destruction and killing must be stopped in order for Syria to be recovered and to restore its role as a cornerstone in the region."
Last month, Syria's warring sides and mediators meeting in Kazakhstan failed to agree on the formation of a constitutional committee which is key to ending the seven-year civil war. De Mistura at the time called it a "missed opportunity."
At issue is the 50-member delegation comprising Syrian experts, civil society, independents, tribal leaders and women that de Mistura was authorized to put together by countries attending a Russian-hosted Syrian peace conference in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Jan. 30.
Agreement has already been reached on a 50-member delegation from the government and a 50-member delegation from the opposition for the drafting committee.
Syrian President Bashar Assad has said his government will only consider amendments to the current constitution, in defiance of the Sochi agreement to have the government, opposition and independents draft a new document.
"We are still working [nights] in order to make sure that if we can there will be an announcement of something regarding the constitutional committee," said de Mistura, whose term ends at the end of the year. "If not, we will have to draw ourselves some conclusions."
De Mistura added: "We need to not leave any stone unturned in order to actually help the situation political process in Syria to move forward." The U.N. envoy said that he will likely be delivering his last statement to the U.N. Security Council on Dec. 20 and assess "where we are on the constitutional committee."
AP
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