Syrian constitution ‘sign of hope’: UN

GENEVA: The UN voiced hope on Monday that a meeting this week of a committee tasked with amending Syria’s constitution can open the door to a broader political process for the war-ravaged country."I do believe that the Constitutional Committee’s launch should be a sign of hope for the long-suffering Syrian people," UN envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen told reporters in Geneva ahead of the committee’s first meeting on Wednesday.The UN last month announced the long-awaited formation of the committee to include 150 members, split evenly between Syria’s government, the opposition and Syrian civil society. Pedersen pointed out that the establishment of the committee "marks the first political agreement between the government of Syria and the opposition."The UN envoy, who is due to meet with the foreign ministers of Russia, Turkey and Iran on Tuesday, before the Constitutional Committee launch, also said he enjoyed the "full support and backing on this from a united international community."Once all 150 meet for a two-day opening ceremony in Geneva starting on Wednesday, 45 of them will begin work drafting the document itself. Pedersen said the aim would be to reach consensus on all issues, and where that is not possible, changes would only be made with a 75-percent majority vote in the committee to avoid having any one side "dictate" the process.

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