No Cyprus blueprint in Paris
NICOSIA (AFP) – Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides said yesterday a meeting with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan tomorrow will examine why the Cyprus talks are deadlocked rather than thrash out a blueprint to reunify the island. «We have been told the UN secretary-general wants to listen to both sides to form an impression about what the difficulties are and make his own evaluation,» Clerides told reporters before leaving for Paris, where he and Turkish-Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash are to meet Annan. Clerides said he was not expecting Annan to make suggestions or proposals to resolve the bitter differences between the Cypriot government and the Turkish-Cypriot leadership. Meanwhile, Denktash held talks in Turkish-occupied northern Nicosia with US envoy Thomas Weston, but remained vague on the outcome. «It was a good meeting,» Denktash said after meeting the US State Department Special Coordinator for Cyprus, adding that Weston «has made some useful recommendations on some issues.» For his part, Weston said his mission was to try and support the goal of reuniting the island. «We have different views, but are trying to find the best way to get there,» Weston said. Prior to his departure, Clerides also met with Weston, but said the envoy made no suggestions on how the two sides could overcome differences. He «did not refer to any alternative solutions; he stressed the need for talks to continue but made no suggestions as to how we could bridge the differences,» Clerides said. Following the one-day meeting in Paris, the UN Security Council is to convene on Monday to be briefed on the status of reunification talks, Clerides added.
