UN CHIEF UNVEILS HIS CHOICE FOR NEW SPECIAL ENVOY TO END SYRIA WAR
▶ Norwegian diplomat Geir Pederson will succeed Staffan de Mistura, but opposition group warns ‘more cajoling’ is not what country needs
In a letter obtained by The National, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guteres has told the UN Security Council that he wants to appoint veteran Norwegian diplomat Geir Pedersen as the UN Special Envoy for Syria.
The two-page document was sent to the Security Council on Tuesday. It revealed that Mr Pedersen is to succeed Staffan de Mistura, who will stand down at the end of the month.
“I am pleased to inform you of my intention to announce the appointment of Mr Geir O Pedersen as my Special Envoy for Syria. In taking this decision, I have consulted broadly, including with the government of the Syrian Arab Republic,” Mr Guterres wrote.
He said Mr Pedersen will “support the Syrian parties by facilitating an inclusive and credible political solution that meets the democratic aspirations of the Syrian people”, the letter read.
Mr Pedersen is a seasoned diplomat with extensive experience in the Middle East. He served as his country’s ambassador to China, and before that he was Norway’s permanent representative to the UN.
Mr Pedersen was the UN’s special co-ordinator for Lebanon between 2005 and 2008.
Between 1998 and 2003, he was Norway’s representative to the Palestinian Authority. He also took part in negotiations that led to the Oslo Agreement between the Palestinians and the Israelis in 1993.
Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported on October 20 that Mr Guterres had nominated Mr Pedersen for the role after Mr de Mistura stepped down and was waiting for “necessary approvals” from Russia and the Syrian government.
On Monday, Russian permanent representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said his country had no objections to Mr Pedersen’s candidacy. The main thing is that the Syrian government also has no objections, he said in New York.
The Security Council has a period between two to seven days to respond to Mr Guterres, but the appointment is expected to be confirmed and made public this week.
In the letter, Mr Guterres also thanked Mr de Mistura, the outgoing envoy, “for his more than four years of concerted efforts and contributions to search for peace in Syria”.
Yahya Al Aridi, the spokesman for Syria’s main opposition negotiating body, said the change of envoys would have little impact on the fate of his country if there was no international consensus about a political road map.
“This man has experience, ranging from Iraq to Lebanon and the United Nations,” he told AFP. “We hope he will be more decisive, and immediately call things by their names – more cajoling and soothing is not what the Syria file needs right now.
“But regardless of the name of the envoy, there needs to be international will and determination to reach a political solution,” Mr Aridi said.
The leaders of Turkey, Russia, France and Germany met in Istanbul at the weekend and called for a political solution to the Syrian war and a permanent truce in the last major rebel-held bastion of Idlib.
Their joint statement called for a committee to be established to draft Syria’s postwar constitution before the end of the year, “paving the way for free and fair elections” in the war-torn country.
The Norwegian diplomat faces serious obstacles in negotiating a political deal, which the West has said is needed to unlock its reconstruction support and to encourage the bulk of the millions of refugees in Europe and the Middle East to return to their homes.