ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – In his first appearance before the United Nations Security Council on Thursday, UN envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen called for a new international forum that brings together the disparate parties and diplomatic tracks to end Syria’s eight-year conflict.
“If we are to see how issues can be unblocked and how to help the parties move in a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned process, a common forum where key states engage seriously on those issues may be needed,” Pedersen told the council in New York.
The UN envoy, who recently took over from Staffan de Mistura, met with several parties to the conflict, including Syrian regime and Russian officials, to identify possible common ground.
The UN-led effort to end the Syria’s civil war was largely sidelined by the Astana process, led by regime allies Russia and Iran with Syria opposition-backer Turkey.
The presence of so many international forces inside Syria raises the danger of clashes, Pedersen warned, calling for better coordination between rival parties.
Pedersen said he hopes parties can “convene a credible, balanced and inclusive constitutional committee as soon as possible,” despite ongoing disputes between the regime and opposition as to its makeup.
“I am conscious of the need to end this conflict for the sake of Syria, the region and the world,” Pedersen said. “I know you all understand the scale and the difficulty of my task.”
He called for “a sustained dialogue with the Syrian government and the opposition on building trust and confidence towards a safe, calm and neutral environment,” along with “more concrete action on detainees, abductees and missing persons through engagement with the Astana players and the Syrian parties and all concerned.”
The UN envoy said he hopes to engage with “a wide range of Syrians,” including Syrian women, and to “help international parties deepen their own dialogue towards the common purpose of a credible and sustainable political settlement of the Syrian conflict that can enjoy international legitimacy.”