Nicosia wary of UN plan
Cypriot officials yesterday expressed misgivings over the content of a peace proposal United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is expected to make public over the next few weeks, adding that the timing of the presentation would depend on tomorrow’s Turkish elections. «Mr Annan and his aides are putting together the elements with which the plan will be completed,» Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Cassoulides told journalists yesterday. «Some of these are acceptable, some not.» Meanwhile, Cyprus’s attorney-general, Alekos Markides, yesterday said Annan has «a full and detailed plan» at his disposal, but will submit it if he judges the Turkish electoral result to be favorable to such a move. Markides stressed that Nicosia feels a peace deal should be struck before the mid-December EU summit in Copenhagen, which is expected to confirm Cyprus’s accession. In New York yesterday, Annan visited Turkish-Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, who is recovering from two heart operations last month. Annan told journalists he had visited «an old friend,» and wished him well.
