Powell urges resumption of talks

FOREIGN Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides met US Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday in the last major port of call during his seven-day visit to Washington DC.

Cassoulides reported after the meeting that Powell had urged the resumption of the UN proximity talks as soon as possible, an issue the Secretary of State also brought up during a recent meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem.

Cassoulides told journalists that he was confident that Washington understood the importance of the island’s accession to the European Union and the opportunity of solving the Cyprus problem within the context of EU membership.

The meeting came after an earlier, in-depth discussion between Cassoulides and Deputy National Security Adviser Steve Hadley on the island’s division, which the minister described as “a very useful exchange of views”.

Cassoulides said he believed that the Bush administration would follow its predecessors in showing a “keen” interest in Cyprus.

He is due to return home today.

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.