Pedersen Calls For a 'New International Format' on Syria Conflict

Arab World

April 29th, 6:16am

Washington - Asharq Al-Awsat

UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen (AFP)

UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen said Wednesday that a new international format could bring stakeholders to the table to put an end to Syria's 10-year conflict. “With a relative, albeit fragile, calm on the ground, and many capitals understanding the need for a way forward, we need to explore what is possible” and “we should not lose further time,” he told the UN Security Council. "If this highly internationalized conflict is to move toward resolution, we need a more constructive and comprehensive international diplomacy on Syria to try to unlock progress step-for-step," he said, calling for exploratory discussions to “help test possibilities and bridge the gaps of mistrust.” Pedersen warned that despite relative calm in the war-torn country, the situation in the last opposition-held stronghold in northwest Syria could deteriorate rapidly. "I want today to sound a warning to all -- a warning to prioritize the proactive search for a settlement of the Syria conflict. Despite more than a year of relative calm by Syrian standards, this month reminded us of the potential for the situation to further disintegrate or rapidly deteriorate," he said. Pedersen highlighted the significant escalation in northwest Syria, including airstrikes on a UN-supported hospital, the shelling of residential areas in western Aleppo, and strikes on the Syrian-Turkish border among several other trouble spots. He further told the council that after the co-chairs from both sides couldn’t agree on terms and methodology for a sixth session of the constitutional committee he proposed a compromise on April 15, which the government said it will respond to next week. In the interests of the Syrians themselves, a sixth session of the small body of the committee needed to be carefully prepared, he stressed.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2945476/pedersen-calls-new-international-format-syria-conflict