UN: Syria Charter Meetings Went 'Better Than Expected'

The initial meetings of a committee on Syria's constitution went better than most had expected, said the UN's Syria envoy on Friday.

Speaking at a press conference, Geir Pedersen said the talks had gotten off to a good start, and the regime and opposition have agreed to resume meetings in Geneva on Nov. 25.

The Constitutional Committee is mandated under the UN-facilitated Geneva process to prepare and draft constitutional reforms towards a political settlement in Syria.

Its first round of meetings began on Oct. 30 with the participation of 150 members.

The committee has two co-chairs: al-Bahra, former president of the Syrian Opposition and Revolutionary Forces National Coalition, and the regime's Ahmed Kuzbari, a lawyer from the committee that drafted the previous constitution.

Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.

Writing by Fatih Hafiz Mehmet in Ankara -