Kuwait urges de Mistura to continue bids to form Syria's constitutional cmte

Kuwait called on UN envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura Friday to continue his efforts towards forming a constitutional committee among Syrian parties, and bring them to table of negotiations as soon as possible.

Kuwait supports de Mistura "who has the necessary mandate to form the constitutional committee," Bader Al-Munayyekh, Kuwait's Acting Permanent Representative to the UN, told a Security Council session on Syria.

The formation of this committee, he added, "should be balanced and credible." Al-Munayyekh expressed regret the outcome of de Mistura's visit to Damascus, which aimed at pushing forward the political process nine months after a declaration last December in Sochi, Russia, about the establishment of the constitutional committee, "was contrary to our expectations and hopes." Forming the constitutional committee is an essential component in the political process, which would pave way for a drafting of a constitution, and holding UN-monitored free and fair elections, he said.

The Declaration of Sochi was clear in determining how this committee would contribute to the political settlement in line with UN Security Council resolution 2254, said Al-Munayyekh.

"We have a chance we should seize as long as stability prevails in Idlib as a result of a Russian-Turkish agreement. This is a decisive opportunity to activate a UN-led political path after around eight years of war, killing and destruction in Syria," he said.
"Let the diplomatic solutions surpass the military solutions," he asserted.