UN calls for 'free and fair' elections in Syria

UN envoy calls for free elections in Syria, political solution for Kurdish areas, and end to sanctions.

DAMASCUS:

The UN envoy to Syria called on Wednesday for "free and fair" elections after the ouster of president Bashar al-Assad, as he voiced hope for a political solution for Kurdish-held areas.

Addressing reporters in Damascus, UN special envoy Geir Pedersen said "there is a lot of hope that we can now see the beginning of a new Syria".

"A new Syria that... will adopt a new constitution... and that we will have free and fair elections when that time comes, after a transitional period," he said.

Calling for immediate humanitarian assistance, he also said he hoped to see an end to international sanctions levied against Syria over Assad's abuses.

Pedersen said a key challenge was the situation in Kurdish-held areas in Syria's northeast, amid fears of a major escalation between the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Turkey-backed groups.

Turkey accuses the main component of the SDF, the People's Protection Units (YPG), of being affiliated with Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants at home, whom both Washington and Ankara consider a "terrorist" group.

The United States said Tuesday it had brokered an extension to a fragile ceasefire in the flashpoint town of Manbij and was seeking a broader understanding with Turkey.

"I'm very pleased that the truce has been renewed and that it seems to be holding, but hopefully we will see a political solution to that issue," Pedersen said.

HTS military chief Murhaf Abu Qasra said Kurdish-held areas would be integrated under the country's new leadership, adding that the group rejects federalism.

"Syria will not be divided," he told AFP, adding that "the Kurdish people are one of the components of the Syrian people."