A HUGE security operation swung into action in Cyprus last night for a pop concert in the UN patrolled buffer zone separating the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities.
Police on both sides of the "Green Line" closed off roads leading up to the Ledra Palace checkpoint in Nicosia, where the Greek pop star Sakis Rouvas was performing with the Turkish singer, Burak Kut, before 6,000 people from both sides of the divide.
On the Greek Cypriot side large contingents of military police were posted at strategic points around the buffer zone, while all approaches were blocked by barbed wire and checkpoints.
At the concert site a disused football pitch cleared of tonnes of rubble - 400 armed UN soldiers and police are charged with maintaining security. Security was stepped up after GreekCypriots opposed to the event made death threats against Rouvas.
Three thousand young people from each community were allowed to mingle freely at the concert, the first gathering of the island's youth since intercommunal clashes erupted in 1963.
The concert was fiercely criticised by some GreekCypriot groups who said it would legitimise the Turkish army's invasion of Cyprus in 1974. They held an "anticoncert" 500 meters away in Nicosia's main square. However, President Glafkos Klerides of Cyprus and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mr Rauf Denktash, both gave their blessing to the event.
In Athens, the Greek Minister for European Affairs, Mr George Papandreou, said Greece is cautiously optimistic about the UN decision to stage direct talks between the two communities on Cyprus.
"We are positive but have reserves over the results" of the talks to be held in mid June Mr Papandreou said after meeting the UN under secretary general for political affairs, Sir Kieran Prendergast. Meanwhile, the British Foreign Secretary, Mr Robin Cook, has reappointed Sir David Hannay as Britain's special envoy to Cyprus to foster "a negotiated settlement" on the island.