Holbrooke pledges to continue efforts

By Athena Karsera

THE U.S. Presidential Emissary for Cyprus, Richard Holbrooke said yesterday he would continue with his efforts to settle the Cyprus Problem.

Holbrooke was speaking at the 53rd UN General Assembly in New York.

“We support a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation” as stipulated in UN resolutions, Holbrooke underlined, saying he would carry on as US envoy for Cyprus pending the confirmation of his nomination as Washington’s Permanent Representative to the UN.

If appointed to the UN, he said he would “gradually phase out of the direct full time responsibility (in Cyprus) but will remain very actively involved”.

Holbrooke later admitted that “the practical obstacles in the path (of a Cyprus solution) have self-evidently become greater”.

But he nevertheless recommended “perseverance, the engaged support of the UN Secretary-General, of the other members of the Security Council, the EU, the US” to overcome these obstacles.

Holbrooke had several separate meetings on Monday with President Glafcos Clerides and Greek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos. Holbrooke was accompanied by US State Department Cyprus Co-ordinator Thomas Miller at both meetings.

Holbrooke will be meeting Clerides again later this week, as well as meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.