U.n. Hopeful of cyprus deal to heal

The United Nations expressed hope that a deal on the divided island of Cyprus is to be negotiated by the end of the year...

Alexander Downer, a former Australian foreign minister who took over as Cyprus special envoy in 2008, said he was convinced leaders of the two rival Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities wanted a deal, but that compromise was required from both sides in order to heal a decades-old conflict threatening Turkey's bid to join the EU.

"It would be good to get the bulk of the work done by the end of the year," Downer told Reuters in an interview. "Just in terms of the negotiations they can do it, whether they will I don't know. But they can do it."

While saying Tuesday that he hoped most work would be concluded this year, he said the U.N. had never laid out a specific timetable for the conclusion of the talks.

Discussions on relinking Cyprus as a federation is a convoluted muddle involving questions of power-sharing, the re-mapping of boundaries and how many of Cyprus's thousands of internally displaced can return to their homes.

Downer said good progress had been made on governance and power-sharing. Discussions were now focused on property. The U.N. is planning to prepare a report offering a "frank assessment" of where negotiations stand next month.

Source: Reuters