Geir Pedersen Sets Date, Agenda for Constitutional Committee Meeting

The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen announced on Tuesday that invitations have been issued for the sixth meeting of the committee tasked with developing a new constitution for war-torn Syria in October.

Pedersen told the UN Security Council: “We should all now expect the constitutional committee to begin to work seriously on a process of drafting — not just preparing — a constitutional reform.”

The UN Special Envoy stated that he was pleased to announce an agreement on "methodology" for the sixth round after eight months of negotiations. It is built on three pillars: Adherence to procedural rules, the submission of texts outlining "basic constitutional principles" prior to the meeting, and regular meetings with him before and during the meeting.

Addressing the General Assembly at UN Headquarters in New York, Foreign Affairs Minister Faisal Mekdad affirmed on Monday that the Syrian Constitutional Committee will meet again in mid-October.

Syria's Foreign Minister previously stated that he plans to meet with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly to discuss bilateral relations and the situation in the Middle East.

In an interview with "Sputnik," Mekdad stated that the meeting will focus on "the excellent bilateral relationship between Russia and Syria, as well as the coordination between the two countries and the United Nations."