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By APD writer Aditya Nugraha
The United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres hailed on Thursday the first meeting between Syrian government and opposition negotiators over the conflict-ridden country's future constitution, calling the event as a landmark.
The meeting saw the two conflicting sides sit face-to-face in Geneva for the launch of the constitutional review committee's work on Wednesday.
"Yesterday's first meeting of the Constitutional Committee was a landmark, a foundation for progress,” Guterres said at a conference on Thursday focusing on mediation in Istanbul which was organized by the Turkish government.
"I hope this will be the first step towards a political solution that will end this tragic chapter in the lives of the Syrian people, also to create the opportunity for all Syrians to return to their places of origin, in safety and dignity, to end their status as refugees," he added.
The UN-brokered committee is comprised of 150 delegates which are divided equally among President Bashar al-Assad's government, the opposition and civil society. Arm conflicts war-torn Syria has claimed 370,000 lives over the past eight years.
In the conference Guterres conveyed his concerns on the development of situation in Syria’s Idlib, which hosts the rebel bastion.
He called on for maximum restraint, de-escalation and the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure on all fronts in Syria
Syria’s Assad has said that winning the Idlib front would be central to winning the war. He said that his troops had completed preparations for such an offensive.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
