GENEVA — The main Syrian opposition called on major powers on Saturday to help clinch a nationwide ceasefire in coming months to pave the way for a political transition after nearly a decade of war. Hadi al-Bahra, the Syrian opposition co-chair of the Syrian Constitutional Committee, was speaking to reporters in Geneva after week-long U.N.-sponsored talks. The 45-member committee composed of representatives of the government, opposition and civil society, has a mandate to draw up a new Constitution leading to U.N.-supervised elections. U.N. Special Envoy Geir Pedersen said that there were "many areas of disagreement", but also "quite a few areas of commonalities". "My hope is with continued calm on the ground...we will also see some progress," he told a briefing.

Source: International New York Times August 29, 2020 18:22 UTC