President of the Syrian Negotiations Commission (SNC), Anas Abda, held a virtual meeting with the US acting envoy to Syria Aimee Cutrona to discuss the latest on the ground and political developments in Syria. In attendance was also Co-chair of the Constitutional Committee Hadi al-Bahra.
Abdah stressed the need to revitalize the issues of detainees, accountability, and the continuation of sanctions against the symbols of the Assad regime. He also stressed the need to reenergize the political process; extend the UN mandate to deliver aid to Syrians in need; and include the Bab al-Salama border crossing to the crossings covered by the mandate.
Abdah also stressed that detainees are in dire need of urgent, unconditional release, adding that the political process is in danger, which requires international pressure to revitalize the process in view of the growing suffering of the Syrian people.
Moreover, Abdah stressed the importance of tightening sanctions against the Assad regime to force it to seriously engage in the political process in accordance with UN Resolution 2254.
Al-Bahra talked about the latest developments in the track of the Constitutional Committee and the challenges facing it, stressing the need for international pressure to put an end to the Assad regime’s obstructionism. He pointed out that drafting a new constitution for Syria is one of the necessary steps on the road to a political transition and meeting the aspirations of the Syrian people for freedom, dignity, justice and democracy, as well as building a state of equal citizenship. He also said that political transition is crucial to ending to the suffering of the Syrian people through the release of detainees, the disclosure of the fate of the forcibly disappeared, and the safe, dignified, voluntary return of the IDPs and refugees.
For her part, the US envoy reaffirmed her country’s support for the UN envoy Geir Pedersen as she called for stepping up the efforts to ensure the release of detainees and enforce all provisions of UN Resolution 2254 as it is the only way to solving the Syrian crisis.
Cutrona said that Washington will continue to press for holding perpetrators of crimes and violations accountable, adding that the elections that Assad regime intends to hold will not be free or fair, nor will they legalize Assad as they contravene UN Resolution 2254. (Source: SOC’s Media Department)
