Syria Ceasefire Can Help Constitutional Committee Begin Work On Time - UNSC President

UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th October, 2019) The newly agreed five-day ceasefire in northern Syria will help United Nations Special Envoy Geir Pedersen launch the Syrian Constitutional Committee on time, the UN Security Council's current president South African Ambassador Jerry Matjila told reporters on Thursday.

US Vice President Mike Pence announced the truce after talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara earlier in the day, saying that Turkey had agreed to pause his country's incursion in northern Syria for 120 hours while Kurdish militants withdraw from a safe zone that extends 30 kilometers (20 miles) beyond Turkey's border.

"This will even help us to encourage Geir Pedersen to work very very hard on the Constitutional Committee and convene, as planned, on the 30th of October," Matjila said when asked about the council's reaction to the newly agreed ceasefire.

He added that the pause in hostilities represents a positive development and stressed that it would�contribute to the return to the political process in the Arab republic.

"If it happens, it is a great thing because it gives the chance to go back to a political track, toward the Constitutional Committee and go back to the discussions," Matjila said.

Pence said the US would facilitate the withdrawal of YPG forces from northern Syria, adding that the Kurdish forces have already begun to withdraw from the safe zone.

Turkey launched its offensive in northern Syria on October 9 to clear the border area of Kurdish militants after President Donald Trump decided to withdraw US troops from the area.

Damascus has called the Turkish operation an invasion and deployed its troops to the north of the country. The international community has condemned the operation, with the US and EU imposing sanctions.

The 150-member Syrian Constitutional Committee will convene for the first time on October 29. Representation within the body is split equally three ways between the nation's government, opposition and civil society.