Syria denies reports on Russian-drafted new constitution

The Beirut-based al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Tuesday that Moscow has finished drafting a constitution which would strip the president of its authority and require a decentralized government to end the five-year crisis as the foreign-backed opposition repeatedly demanded the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad before a transitional government is established.

"No draft constitution has been shown to the Syrian Arab Republic. Everything which has been said in the media about this subject is totally untrue," the Syrian Presidency said in a statement on its official Facebook page on Friday.

"Any new future constitution for Syria will not be presented from abroad, but will be entirely Syrian: discussed and agreed upon by Syrians themselves and after that put to a referendum. Anything else would be worthless and meaningless," the Presidency added.

Syria has been gripped by a foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. According to a February report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of some 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced nearly half of the country’s pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.

In April, Bloomberg reported that Russia and the United States, a major supporter of the foreign-backed Takfiri militants, were working on drafting a new constitution for Syria together.

KD