ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United Nations-led effort to draft a new constitution for war-ravaged Syria will resume next month, the first meeting in eight months, the UN envoy announced on Tuesday. “We should all now expect the Constitutional Committee to begin to work seriously on a process of drafting - not just preparing - a constitutional reform,” UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen told the Security Council. Negotiations began two years ago, bringing together Syrian regime and opposition representatives to draft a new constitution and find a political solution to the civil war, but have made little progress. Pedersen said he has been talking with the relevant parties for eight months to get the process back on track. They finally have an agreement and will meet on October 18. More than 350,000 people have been killed in a decade of civil war in Syria, according to UN figures. Half the pre-war population have fled their homes and 90 percent of Syrians are living in poverty. Speaking to media in New York, Pedersen said he told the Security Council that the situation in Syria “is a crisis that needs to be sorted out and that the time for political initiatives is now.” “If we fail also this time, that will be another disappointment in the long list of disappointments for the Syrian people,” said Pedersen. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, with the backing of Russia and Iran, has regained control of about 70 percent of the territory and 40 percent of the pre-war population. Opposition forces retain control over areas in the northwest in Idlib, and Turkish-backed militias hold pockets in the north. In the northeast (Rojava), Kurds have established their own administration. The Islamic State group (ISIS) remains a threat, especially in Syria’s eastern deserts, in Deir ez-Zor, and along the border with Iraq.
