UN envoy optimistic about holding new round of Syria's Constitutional Committee

The visiting UN Special Envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen said in Damascus on Wednesday that he is optimistic about the convention of a seventh round of discussion by Syria's Constitutional Committee likely in March.

Pedersen made the remarks after meeting with Syria's Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, during which both sides discussed the work of Syria's Constitutional Committee, which comprises opposition and government delegations that had met six times in Europe to propose an amendment to the Syrian constitution.

"After my discussion today, I am more optimistic that it will be possible to convene the seventh round of the drafting body of the Constitutional Committee hopefully sometime in March," he said.

The envoy said that he still has a couple of meetings with Syrian officials and opposition to agree on the schedule for the fifth day of the upcoming meeting, as both sides have already agreed on the schedule for the first four days of the meeting.

The Syrian Constitutional Committee is a United Nations-facilitated constituent assembly process that seeks to reconcile the Syrian Government headed by President Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian opposition, in the context of the Syrian peace process, by amending the current or adopting a new constitution of Syria.