The UN envoy for Syria said Thursday (June 14th) he will try to kickstart work towards a new constitution for the country with a series of meetings in the coming weeks, AFP reported.
Staffan de Mistura said he plans to sit down with senior officials from regime-backers Russia and Iran as well as opposition supporter Turkey at the UN on Monday and Tuesday.
He also has scheduled talks at the UN the following week with envoys from Britain, France, Germany, Jordan, the US and Saudi Arabia -- another key opposition backer.
The talks are aimed at creating a commission to hammer out a post-war constitution, an effort that the UN has been asked to facilitate.
De Mistura said moving forward on a new constitution "is a key building block of a revitalised political process", to end the devastating seven-year conflict.
The government of Bashar al-Assad has submitted a list of 50 names to sit on the commission.
Syrian opposition groups have not done so yet, and de Mistura said "there is a need for progress on that soon".
