UN's Ban seeks to boost Cyprus peace push

UN chief Ban Ki-moon was in Cyprus on Monday on a mission aimed at trying to inject new life into flagging talks to reunify the eastern Mediterranean island, which has been divided for decades. "I am under no illusion that the Cyprus problem is easy to solve or about the difficulties you face, at the same time I'm confident that a solution is possible and within reach," Ban told reporters on arrival late on Sunday. Ban said the rival Cypriot leaders needed to show "courage, flexibility, vision and a spirit of compromise" to end the division. "Your destiny is in your hands, you are the ones driving the process .

.. The expectation of the international community is very high. Let's not underestimate the benefits of a solution," he said.

The last time a United Nations secretary general was in the war-torn island was when Ban's predecessor Kofi Annan came eight years ago and urged the rival Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots to seize a "historic opportunity." However, the Greek Cypriots later rejected Annan's reunification blueprint in a referendum, ensuring Cyprus joined the European Union still divided in 2004 despite a Turkish Cypriot referendum approving Annan's plan. Failure to reach a Cyprus settlement is also proving an obstacle to Turkey's own EU ambitions. The latest UN-led effort has also struggled to produce tangible results since it was launched amid much optimism in September 2008.

President Demetris Christofias, a Greek Cypriot, and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat have yet to secure any breakthrough in sluggish negotiations despite their "pro-solution" credentials. The Greek Cypriot side has welcomed heightened interest from the international community, but has also been quick to underline that Ban was not coming to seal a peace agreement. There is growing pessimism about the talks among some Greek Cypriot politicians who believe they are doomed to fail because the two sides remain far apart on the core issues of property, security and territorial adjustments. Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said Ban was coming to express his support to both leaders, but would not be submitting any "proposals, ideas or exercise any type of mediation.

" Ban will meet each leader separately later on Monday before convening a joint meeting later the same day ahead of his departure on Tuesday. He will also visit the UN-patrolled ceasefire line that runs for 180 kilometres (112 miles) from west to east, splitting the Mediterranean island in two. The 850-odd UN force on Cyprus is one of the world's oldest peacekeeping missions, deployed to quell inter-communal fighting in 1963. So Ban is treading carefully where so many diplomats before him have failed to broker a deal.

The UN chief's office has said he is visiting Cyprus to show support for the negotiations that have dragged on for 17 months. Cyprus has been split since Turkish troops seized and occupied its northern third in 1974 in response to a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece. Ban's visit comes after two rounds of intensified negotiations between the two leaders that were meant to accelerate the reunification of Cyprus, but it remains unclear what will happen next. According to UN officials, Ban will discuss how the negotiations should continue, with local media speculating that another intensified phase is on the cards for this month.

The reunification talks will need to be suspended soon, however, to allow Talat to campaign for elections called for April 18 in the breakaway self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Talat is trailing in the polls to hardliner Dervis Eroglu, and if he fails to secure re-election the talks could be in real trouble. The leaders on both sides say they are committed to finding a solution in 2010, and the United Nations also hopes this will be the year of a Cyprus settlement. Any deal which is thrashed out must be also put before the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in separate but simultaneous referendums.