Three US servicemen held since last month by Yugoslavia may soon be handed over to the President of the Cyprus House of Representatives, Mr Spiros Kyprianou, who arrived in Athens yesterday evening en route to Belgrade.
NATO has agreed to grant "safe passage" today to a Greek military plane carrying Mr Kyprianou, a former president of the republic, and his party to the Yugoslav capital.
"I will bring [the soldiers] to Cyprus and give them to the American authorities," Mr Kyprianou stated. Sources on the island speculate that this may take place tomorrow or on Saturday, coinciding with Greek Orthodox Easter observances.
The Yugoslav President, Mr Slobodan Milosevic, has apparently agreed to hand over the men to Cyprus as a "goodwill gesture". Although the details of the arrangement have to be finalised on his arrival in Belgrade, Mr Kyprianou stated: "The indications are that this mission will succeed."
Following several days of contacts with officials close to Mr Milosevic, but not the Yugoslav leader personally, Mr Kyprianou met the US charge d'affaires, Mr Debborah Grave, yesterday morning. His request for a brief halt to NATO bombing to facilitate his visit to Belgrade, was not granted.
The US embassy spokeswoman, Mrs Judith Baroody, told The Irish Times, that there could be "no preconditions" for the hand-over. She said that officials in the US capital were "evaluating the situation".
"We consider it our duty to help as much as we can" on the humanitarian plane, Mr Kyprianou asserted, but said that the Cyprus government would not "get involved in negotiations for a political solution" of the Kosovo crisis unless Mr Milosevic asked Cyprus to do so.
Although Mr Kyprianou undertook the mediation mission on his own personal initiative, he travelled to Yugoslavia in his capacity as house president. He is well placed to approach Belgrade over the US servicemen because he has played an active role in the local anti-war campaign. Last Saturday he addressed a protest demonstration which brought some 3,000 Greek Cypriot opponents of NATO's bombing campaign to the heart of Nicosia.
The majority of Orthodox Christian Greek Cypriots empathise with their Serb co-religionists and believe NATO seeks to partition Yugoslavia between Christians and Muslims in much the same way Cyprus has been divided between Greek and Turkish Cypriots since 1974. Belgrade could count on a Greek Cypriot mediation effort, supported by Greece, to be Serb-friendly. Although the Cyprus government has not been directly involved, it supports Mr Kyprianou and would like Washington to reward Nicosia by playing a more active role in the search for a political settlement on the island.
The Kosovo crisis has deepened the politico-emotional gulf between the two Cypriot communities. For while the Greek Cypriots support the Serbs, the Turkish Cypriots identify with the Kosovan Albanians.
Tension between the two sides has been exacerbated by an offer by the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mr Rauf Denktash, to provide temporary refuge to as many as 5,000 Kosovo refugees in empty apartments and hotels in the Famagusta suburb of Varosha abandoned by its Greek Cypriot inhabitants in August 1974 during the Turkish army invasion.
Because this area remains unsettled and under UN supervision, it is regarded by Greek Cypriots and the international community as the most likely Turkish-occupied locality likely to be "returned" once a settlement is negotiated.
By proposing to install Kosovo refugees in Varosha, Mr Denktash has threatened not only to void the practical possibility of a Greek Cypriot "return" to their homes in Varosha and but also to destroy a cherished dream.
Turkish Cypriot opposition leaders have condemned the offer.
The Cyprus Foreign Minister, Mr Yiannis Kasoulides, stated that the Cyprus and Greek governments had been given assurances by the international community that Varosha would not be opened up for the Kosovo refugees.