The UN Special Representative for Syria, Geir Pedersen, arrived in Damascus on Sunday, his spokeswoman, Jennifer Fenton, said. Details of his programme have not yet been disclosed, AFP reports.
“He’s just arrived and will probably make statements,” Fenton said, without specifying whether Pedersen plans to meet with Abu Mohammad al-Julani, the leader of the coalition led by the Islamist group that seized power in Syria.
After an 11-day offensive from Idlib (northwestern Syria), a coalition of armed groups led by the radical Sunni group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) captured most of the Syrian territory, including Damascus, and on 8 December overthrew Bashar al-Assad’s regime, which had lasted for half a century.
The HTS, led by Abu Mohammad al-Julani, claims to have renounced jihadism, but remains a recognised “terrorist” organisation in many Western capitals, including Washington.
In his recent statements, Pedersen has called for an “inclusive” transition process to avoid a new civil conflict in Syria.
A day earlier in Jordan, he took part in talks with American, Arab, European and Turkish diplomats. The participants of the meeting agreed that the process of transition of power should be “Syrian-led” and aimed at establishing an “inclusive, non-sectarian and representative government,” the joint statement said.
