Staffan

Outgoing UN envoy Staffan de Mistura met with Syria's top diplomat in Damascus on Wednesday, the UN and state media said, to try to make progress on a post-war constitution.

U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura

The Syrian government's chief negotiator said on April 25 that an explosion south of the capital had struck a hospital, killing some patients evacuated last week from two rebel-besieged towns in the northwestern province of Idlib. 

Syria's main opposition group said Feb. 2 that it will not attend a planned afternoon meeting with the U.N. special envoy Staffan de Mistura, adding further doubts about the prospects for peace talks in Switzerland.

"There is no meeting with de Mistura," said Farah Atassi, member of the Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee (HNC).  

Talks between the UN special envoy for Syria and government representatives tentatively planned for Feb. 1 11:00 am (1000 GMT) in Geneva have been "rescheduled" to allow talks with the opposition first, the UN said.

Peace talks between the warring parties in Syria, which were scheduled to open on Jan. 25, will instead begin in Geneva on Jan. 29 and last for six months, the United Nations' Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura has said.  

Italian-Swedish diplomat Staffan de Mistura will be the new U.N. mediator for Syria, taking on the Herculean task of finding a political solution to the devastating civil war, diplomats say.