Date: Jun 14, 2018 Source: The Daily Star U.N. Syria envoy to host talks to form ‘peace’ committee BEIRUT / GENEVA: The U.N. envoy for Syria said he will host senior officials from Iran, Russia and Turkey in Geneva next week to discuss efforts to create a constitutional committee that could help one day bring peace to the war-devastated country. Staffan de Mistura has recently focused his attention on the diplomatic track with the three powers to try to craft a way out of Syria’s 7-year-old war. The approach marks a departure from his months of repeatedly hosting delegations from the government and opposition groups for talks in Geneva that largely failed. The seventh round of such United Nation-backed talks ended Dec. 2017 without moving any closer to a political resolution. De Mistura’s office said Wednesday that the “consultations” among the unspecified officials are to take place in Geneva Monday and Tuesday. He will provide further details at a meeting with reporters Thursday. Last month, the Syrian government submitted a list of names to the U.N. as candidates for inclusion in a constitutional committee. Formation of the committee, which would be tasked with rewriting the Syrian constitution, was agreed at the Syrian peace conference in the Russian resort of Sochi in January. Key opposition groups boycotted the talks in Sochi. De Mistura had said he would select about 50 people, including supporters of the government, the opposition and independents. Meanwhile, Aldar Xelil, co-chair of the Kurdish Movement for a Democratic Society, told Reuters that there had been no steps yet toward negotiations mooted by Syrian President Bashar Assad last month, but that any agreement between the sides would be “a historic turning point.” Assad said last month the state was opening “doors for negotiations” with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, but if these failed it would resort to force to recapture the areas. “We don’t know the extent of their seriousness or preparation for this, but we hope these statements reflect serious intentions,” he said. Separately, Syrian state news agency SANA reported that Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem sent a letter to Iraqi counterpart Ibrahim al-Jaafari on increasing the efforts for reopening the border crossing between Syria and Iraq connecting the Syrian city of Albukamal and the Iraqi city of Al-Qaim. The letter was delivered during a meeting with Syria’s Ambassador in Baghdad Sattam Jadaan al-Dandah.