UN envoy delivers revised Cyprus document to two sides

Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Adviser on Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, today delivered letters from the United Nations chief to Glafcos Clerides, the Greek Cypriot leader, and Rauf Denktash, the Turkish Cypriot leader.

"With these letters he conveyed a revision of his proposed Basis for Agreement on a Comprehensive Settlement of the Cyprus Problem, which had been conveyed to the two sides on November 11," a UN spokesman said in a statement released in Nicosia.

The document was revised following intensive consultations with the two sides participating in the negotiation, according to the statement. "These consultations were stepped up in the past few days following receipt last week of the two sides' comments, suggestions and requests, with Mr. de Soto and his colleagues shuttling between the two leaders and their colleagues with a view to improving the text."

In his letter, the Secretary-General asks the two leaders to give the revision the most urgent consideration with a view to reaching a decisive conclusion this week, so that a reunited Cyprus may accede to the European Union. The Secretary-General has asked the two sides to be available in Copenhagen later this week should that prove necessary.

"Cyprus has a rendezvous with history," the Secretary-General said in his letter. "It should not be missed."