The new UN envoy to Syria ended his first visit to the war-torn country Thursday (January 17th), stressing the need for a UN-brokered political solution to the eight-year conflict.

Geir Pedersen, a seasoned Norwegian diplomat, concluded his three-day visit and headed to the Lebanese capital Beirut, a UN source told AFP.

The new envoy on Twitter late Wednesday said he had a "constructive meeting" with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem during his stay in Damascus.

During the meeting, he stressed the need for a "Syrian-led and owned political solution facilitated by the UN", he added.

Pedersen, who started his new job last week, is the fourth UN envoy to seek a solution to Syria's conflict, after endless rounds of failed UN-brokered peace talks.

After Damascus, Pederson said he was off to meet the Syrian Negotiations Committee, Syria's main opposition group.

But he "agreed to come back to Damascus on a regular basis to discuss commonalities and progress on points of disagreement", he added.

On Tuesday, Muallem expressed Syria's "readiness to co-operate with him... in his mission to facilitate Syrian-Syrian dialogue with the objective of reaching a political solution to the Syrian crisis", a foreign ministry statement said.