UN envoy calls for renewed Syrian political talks post-quake

By ABBY SEWELL
Associated Press

A top United Nations official has called for renewed attempts to reach a political solution to the country’s nearly 12-year-old civil conflict in the wake of last month’s devastating earthquake. Geir Pedersen, the U.N. special envoy for Syria, told reporters Wednesday that the deadly 7.8 magnitude quake that struck Turkey and Syria last month had served as a “wakeup call to the world that the Syrian tragedy is far from over.” Pedersen called for a “Syrian-led and owned political process facilitated by the United Nations,” including a return to meetings of a committee formed to draft a new constitution for Syria