Cyprus gets new UN mediator
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday appointed a veteran Australian diplomat to adopt the role of mediator in talks between Greek- and Turkish-Cypriot leaders ahead of a crucial meeting between the two men later this month. The appointment of Australia’s former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who will take over from Michael Moller in the difficult task of bridging the gap between community leaders on the divided island, is seen as a positive step toward relaunching stalled peace talks. An official at the British Foreign Office, who met with Cyprus President Dimitris Christofias in Nicosia yesterday, expressed optimism about the outlook for reunification of the island following the appointment of Downer. «We very much hope that negotiations under UN auspices will be launched in September and look forward to helping as much as we can,» said Anthony Smith, the head of the Foreign Office’s European Political Affairs Department. Smith said that a settlement should be by Cypriots, for Cypriots» and stressed that Britain «does not have a plan of its own.» Britain, which colonized Cyprus from 1878 until 1960, maintains a military base on the island and thousands of Britons are permanent residents there. Christofias is to meet with the UN’s Ban next Sunday in Paris on the sidelines of a summit to discuss the creation of a Mediterranean Union. The meeting comes ahead of scheduled talks between Christo-fias and Turkish-Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat in Nicosia on July 25, where the progress of preparatory negotiations between «working groups» from both sides of the island is to be assessed. It is widely thought the meeting could provide an opportunity to plan the next round of peace talks.
