Cypriot leaders discuss UN plan

CYPRUS: Rival Cypriot leaders yesterday discussed for the first time a UN plan to heal division on the Mediterranean island, …

CYPRUS: Rival Cypriot leaders yesterday discussed for the first time a UN plan to heal division on the Mediterranean island, with the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mr Rauf Denktash, insisting it had little support among his people.

The talks between Mr Denktash and the Greek Cypriot leader, Mr Glafcos Clerides, in UN-controlled no-man's-land in Nicosia, followed a rally on Tuesday by 70,000 Turkish Cypriots demanding that Mr Denktash negotiate on the UN plan or resign.

A new meeting between the two leaders was set for tomorrow, suggesting that the UN wants to waste little time in meeting a February 28th deadline for a deal on Cyprus, partitioned along ethnic lines since a 1974 Turkish invasion to thwart a Greek-inspired Greek Cypriot coup.

"We had face-to-face talks today on the changes we wish to see in the \ Annan plan," Mr Denktash told reporters. "We are going to continue the meetings with good intentions and we shall see what we can achieve."

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The two leaders last met on October 4th, when Mr Denktash's health forced an interruption to the meetings. A peace deal failed on the sidelines of an EU summit in Copenhagen last month, where the 15-member bloc decided to admit Cyprus, divided or not, in its next expansion in May 2004.

The Greek Prime Minister, Mr Costas Simitis, whose country holds the EU presidency, said his Greek Cypriot allies were willing to engage in discussions and that the onus was now on Mr Denktash to follow suit.