The Latest Breaking News from Geir Pedersen

Once again, the position regarding the Syrian state institutions, especially the army, thwarted the sessions of the Constitutional Committee in Geneva. A dispute had erupted between the government delegation headed by Ahmed al-Kuzbari and the opposition negotiating body headed by Hadi al-Bahra over institutional reform. In contrast to Damascus’ warnings…

An eighth round of talks on a new constitution for Syria concluded Friday with rival parties having made very little headway, the United Nations mediator said. The Syrian Constitutional Committee was created in September 2019 and first convened a month later, AFP said. The tentative negotiations are aimed at rewriting…

The UN special envoy for Syria announced Tuesday that he has sent invitations to the Syrian government and the opposition for an eighth round of talks starting in late May, aimed at revising the constitution of the conflict-torn country. Geir Pedersen told the UN Security Council that agreement on a…

“You are neither my friend nor my brother, you are just a colleague,” said one of the members of the Damascus delegation to a representative from the “other party” during the meetings of the Constitutional Committee in Geneva, which concluded on Friday evening. These verbal comments do not reflect the…

A document on Syria’s “state symbols” - presented by the government delegation before the seventh round of the Constitutional Committee’s meetings in Geneva – sparked disputes with the group representing the opposition, headed by Hadi al-Bahra, and other affiliated civil society figures. The seventh round of meetings ends this Friday,…

Geir Pedersen, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria, admitted on Thursday that significant differences remain between the Syrian government and opposition delegations on writing the country’s new Constitution. Briefing the 15-member Council on the penultimate day of the seventh session of the Small Body of the Syrian Constitutional Committee,…

Talks on a new constitution for Syria resume this week in Geneva, with the United Nations mediator hopeful of making headway. Back in October, the sixth round of discussions between 15 representatives each from President Bashar al-Assad's government, the opposition, and civil society, ended with no agreement on how to…

The Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, issued a message marking the eleventh anniversary of the protests that sparked the Syrian uprising, saying that Syrians continue to suffer in profound ways, and the hardship is only deepening. Addressing all sides to the conflict, he stressed that a military solution is…

Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen of Norway has expressed concern over the impact of the Russian war against Ukraine on the diplomatic efforts to settle the war in Syria. “Every month I draw your attention to the fact that Syrians across the country and those who are displaced are…