Staffan de Mistura's call on Friday for elections in September 2017 came ahead of the fifth anniversary of the conflict on Monday, which is also when a fresh round of peace talks in Geneva are scheduled to begin.
"New elections ... should be held 18 months from the start of talks, that is from March 14," de Mistura told Russia's RIA Novosti state news agency, in comments translated into Russian.
World leaders have called for elections for some time, with the last major plea made in November during a round of peace talks in Vienna.
Elsewhere, de Mistura said that the possibility of federalism had not been taken off the table for the upcoming talks, which the main Syrian opposition bloc - the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) - confirmed on Friday it will attend.
"All Syrians have rejected the division [of Syria] and federalism can be discussed at the negotiations," de Mistura told Al Jazeera.
He also said that the prospects for reaching a deal to end the war were better than at any time before.
Diplomats had told the Reuters news agency that major powers close to the UN-brokered talks were discussing the possibility of federal division in Syria that would grant broad autonomy to regional authorities, while maintaining the country’s unity as a single state.
A UN Security Council diplomat told Reuters that a number of major Western powers had been considering the possibility of a federal structure for Syria and had passed on suggestions to de Mistura.
Speaking in September, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad did not rule out the idea of federalism, but said any such change should only come about as a result of dialogue among Syrians and a referendum to ratify any changes to the constitution.
"From our side, when the Syrian people are ready to move in a certain direction, we will naturally agree to this," he said at the time...
Source: Al Jazeera And Reuters
11/3/16
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