UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- The UN special envoy for Syria on Wednesday vowed to push ahead the UN-led intra-Syrian talks in Geneva that are aimed at finding a political solution to the Syria crisis.
Briefing the Security Council on the situation in Syria, Staffan de Mistura, the chief UN mediator in the war-torn country, said he is consulting intensively on the establishment of a constitutional committee tasked to write a new constitution.
Participants in intra-Syrian talks in Sochi, Russia, at the end of January agreed on such a committee. Russia, which brokered the Sochi talks together with Turkey and Iran, agreed to have the outcome of the talks as a contribution to the UN-led process in Geneva.
De Mistura said he has had initial discussions in Geneva with representatives of the government of Syria, the Syrian opposition and a number of governments.
"My team continues to be in contact with a wide array of Syrians -- men and women, and I continue to look carefully at the candidates for the constitutional committee developed in Sochi and other relevant inputs."
De Mistura vowed to continue to pursue the convening of further formal intra-Syrian talks in Geneva under the auspices of the United Nations.
"I am aware of the need to focus, more than ever, on the establishment of a secure, calm, neutral environment if any constitutional process is to unfold and if UN-supervised presidential and parliamentary elections pursuant to a new constitution as envisaged in Resolution 2254 are to take place," he said.
De Mistura said he will be in Munich to consult UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and engage with senior officials present at the annual Munich Security Conference. "I intend to strike while the iron is hot and try to move the Geneva process ahead in consultation with all concerned."
