US: ‘Opportunity lost’
US Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday expressed disappointment at the failure of efforts to reunite Cyprus. But other US officials were more outspoken. «Obviously, we were very disappointed,» Powell said. «We believe that an important opportunity, a historic opportunity, was lost.» His special envoy for Cyprus, Thomas Weston, told Athens’s Mega Channel that efforts would be made to ease the isolation of Turkish Cypriots, who voted in favor of the UN plan. «We have to see how this isolation will end, mainly the economic isolation,» Weston said. «There are other elements of isolation that remain… You will see that these decisions, in time, will be reviewed.» State Department spokesman Richard Boucher blasted Greek-Cypriot leaders and praised Turkish Cypriots. He claimed that the former manipulated the runup to the election, making rejection of the plan by the Greek-Cypriot community «regrettable but not surprising.» Cypriot officials have denied such charges.
