Top UN political official heads to Cyprus to monitor talks

As talks to reunify Cyprus continue, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast heads to the Mediterranean island today at the request of Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Mr. Prendergast will be briefed by Mr. Annan’s Special Adviser on Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, on the status of the talks and will also meet the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash, and the Greek Cypriot leader, Tassos Papadopoulos.

Mr. Prendergast will then sit in on the talks before returning to UN Headquarters in New York to brief the Secretary-General on their progress, UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said.

The two sides have been meeting in Nicosia to discuss a plan initiated by Mr. Annan to reunify the island ahead of its entry into the European Union on 1 May. Last month, Mr. Denktash and Mr. Papadopoulos agreed to maintain negotiations until 22 March under the plan.

If those talks are successful, separate referenda will then have to be submitted to the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in April for the proposal to be formally approved.