Syria's top diplomat told the outgoing UN envoy to stay out of matters concerning the war-torn country's constitution, state media reported, while the UN official said they had "a very intense exchange of opinions."
Foreign Minister Walid Al Moallem reportedly told UN envoy Staffan de Mistura that the constitution is a "sovereign" matter and that Damascus will not allow any foreign intervention or meddling in it.
The remarks were carried by the state-run SANA news agency on Wednesday after the two met in Damascus.
Mr de Mistura announced last week he would resign for personal reasons after years of mediating peace talks that led nowhere. But he said he hoped to broker an agreement on advancing a new constitution for Syria before stepping down next month.
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The opposition has called for a new constitution that would allow for a political transition away from the Assad family's decades of rule. But after a string of major victories, the government shows little interest in making any concessions.
"During the meeting we had a very frank, a very intense exchange of opinions concerning the constitutional committee and the political process in general," Mr de Mistura told reporters after the meeting. He said he will not elaborate because he still has to brief the UN secretary-general and the Security Council.
A statement released by Mr de Mistura's office later said the UN envoy will be engaging in "intensive further consultations" to explore the possibility of convening a Syrian constitutional committee.
Mr Al Moallem was quoted by SANA as saying that "the constitution and everything related to it are purely a sovereign affair that is decided by the Syrian people without any foreign intervention."
Mr de Mistura told Security Council members last week that while there is agreement on the 50-member government and opposition delegations for the drafting committee, the government objects to a third 50-member delegation that the UN put together representing Syrian experts, civil society, independents, tribal leaders and women.
Mr de Mistura has been trying since February to set up a constitutional committee as a key step toward elections and a political settlement to the more than seven-year Syrian conflict, which has killed some 400,000 people.
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Based: Cairo and Alexandria, in Egypt
Founders: Ayman Hamza, Yasser Eidrous and Amr El Sheikh
Sector: agriculture technology
Funding: $500,000
Investors: Saudi Arabia’s Revival Lab and others
Employees: 35
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Director:Assad Al Waslati
Starring: Omar Al Mulla, Badr Hakami and Rehab Al Attar
Streaming on: ADtv
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Adel Esmat (translated by Mandy McClure)
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Creator: Jim Mickle
Starring: Christian Convery, Nonso Anozie, Adeel Akhtar, Stefania LaVie Owen
Rating: 2.5/5
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Author: Iman Mersal
Publisher: And Other Stories
Pages: 240
In 2018, the ICRC received 27,756 trace requests in the Middle East alone. The global total was 45,507.
There are 139,018 global trace requests that have not been resolved yet, 55,672 of these are in the Middle East region.
More than 540,000 individuals approached the ICRC in the Middle East asking to be reunited with missing loved ones in 2018.
The total figure for the entire world was 654,000 in 2018.
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Started: 2017
Founders: Dr Noha Khater and Rania Kadry
Based: Egypt
Number of staff: 120
Investment: Bootstrapped, with support from Insead and Egyptian government, seed round of
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Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
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Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
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100ml contains 414 calories
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100ml serving contains 300 calories
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Stars: Matt Damon, Jason Bateman, Ben Affleck, Viola Davis
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Gold
Faisal Al Ketbi (Open weight and 94kg)
Talib Al Kirbi (69kg)
Omar Al Fadhli (56kg)
Silver
Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)
Khalfan Belhol (85kg)
Zayed Al Mansoori (62kg)
Mouza Al Shamsi (49kg women)
Bronze
Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi (Open and +94kg)
Saood Al Hammadi (77kg)
Said Al Mazroui (62kg)
Obaid Al Nuaimi (56kg)
Bashayer Al Matrooshi (62kg women)
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Company name: Cargoz
Date started: January 2022
Founders: Premlal Pullisserry and Lijo Antony
Based: Dubai
Number of staff: 30
Investment stage: Seed
SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
Top 10 most polluted cities
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Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
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Sector: PropTech
Total funding: $400,000
Investors: 500 Startups, Flat6Labs and angel investors
Number of employees: 12
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Based: Abu Dhabi
Founders: Samer Masri, Keswin Suresh
Sector: HealthTech
Total funding: $800,000
Investors: Flat6Labs, angel investors + Incubated by Hub71, Abu Dhabi's Department of Health
Number of employees: 10
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Al Wasl 1 (Caio Canedo 90+1')
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Company name: Klipit
Started: 2022
Founders: Venkat Reddy, Mohammed Al Bulooki, Bilal Merchant, Asif Ahmed, Ovais Merchant
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Digital receipts, finance, blockchain
Funding: $4 million
Investors: Privately/self-funded
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Company name: Hoopla
Date started: March 2023
Founder: Jacqueline Perrottet
Based: Dubai
Number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Investment required: $500,000
Killing of Qassem Suleimani