NEWS

Denktash could resign

Intensive talks aimed at reunifying Cyprus begin in Nicosia today, with President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish-Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash starting a series of three meetings a week in order to meet a Feb. 28 deadline. Denktash said that if he was pressured to sign UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s plan he could be forced to call a referendum on the proposal and resign as negotiator. «If the people say the plan should be signed, then I won’t be an obstacle and Parliament should choose a person to sign it,» the Anatolia news agency yesterday quoted him as saying. The Turkish left-wing daily Radikal, however, said, «High-level political and diplomatic sources said Denktash would search for a solution under the basis of the Annan plan.» Annan yesterday called Turkish PM Abdullah Gul and discussed Cyprus and Iraq. The Turkish government has said it wants a deal by Feb. 28 or April 16.

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