TASS, December 1. The Syrian Arab Republic has accused the United States of interfering in the constitutional committee’s work and attempting to impose its own agenda, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, according to SANA news agency.
"The US State Department’s statement on the Geneva meetings of the constitutional committee definitely confirms Washington’s attempts to meddle in other states’ affairs and impose its own agenda on the constitutional committee," the document reads.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry emphasizes that the dialogue in Geneva is "inter-Syrian and no one has any right to meddle in it or back any side under any pretext." The role of the United Nations, which is represented by the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy Geir Pedersen is just to "facilitate discussion in the committee," the document says.
According to the Syrian ministry, "any views or statements of the US or other countries don’t have value and neither influence the constitutional committee’s work nor the nature, form and content of its dialogues."
The US State Department stated on November 30 that the Syrian government’s delegation, which attended the second round of the committee’s consultations, requested preconditions which, according to Washington, "clearly violate the constitutional committee’s rules of procedure, and are a blatant attempt to delay the work of an important effort that is supported by both the Small Group and Astana Group."
The second meeting of the Syrian constitutional committee in Geneva, which ended this week, failed to yield any fruit. The representatives of the government and the opposition, who attended it, were unable to agree on its agenda and hold a general meeting.