(MENAFN- Gulf Times) The participants of the Sochi peace talks for Syria have agreed to move ahead and draft constitutional reforms, in a move aimed at helping the political process end the civil war, UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said.
'I will be indicating as soon as possible, because Syria cannot wait, on how I plan to proceed, de Mistura said at the close of the conference, noting he needed to hold more consultations before a committee could be formed to draft reforms.
The UN envoy said the participants agreed to have the Sochi process aid the main UN-brokered talks in Geneva, which is the legal platform for resolving the Syria crisis, ongoing since 2011. The Sochi participants have listed candidates from various Syrian factions who they would like to see on the constitutional drafting committee, de Mistura said.
Earlier, Russia hosted a showpiece congress aimed at bringing Syria's seven-year war to an end, but hopes were low after rebels pulled out at the last minute following boycotts by the main opposition and Kurds.
Regime-backer Moscow says it invited 1,600 delegates to the meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi as part of a broader push to consolidate its influence in the Middle East and start hammering out a political solution to the conflict.
An opening speech by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, delayed by two hours because of ongoing negotiations, was interrupted both by cries of 'Long live Russia! and angry heckling from Syrian delegates.
Reading out a letter from President Vladimir Putin, Lavrov called for the UN to play a leading role in any political settlement, following fears Russia is seeking to undermine separate UN-backed talks with a view to carving out a deal that strengthens Moscow's ally President Bashar al-Assad.
Representatives of rebel groups flew into Sochi from Turkey late Monday but refused to leave the airport after seeing the symbol of the congress featured only the Syrian regime flag.
A rebel source said that Russian hosts had promised to change the symbol, which was displayed on posters in the airport as well as billboards on the road towards Sochi, and in the congress hall itself.
'We were surprised that none of the promises were fulfilled, the brutal bombardment on the civilians didn't stop, the regime flags weren't removed from the conference banners, in addition to the lack of diplomatic manners from the hosting state, the rebels at the airport said in a statement.
United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura speaks to attendees after a session of the Syrian Congress of National Dialogue in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, yesterday.
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