‘Suffocating deadline’ watered down in UNFICYP resolution

THE FIVE permanent members of the UN Security Council have agreed on the text of a draft resolution on the renewal of the mandate of the UN peace-keeping force in Cyprus and on the Secretary General’s Good Offices mission.

Sources told the Cyprus News Agency that in the agreed draft, the controversial paragraph in the preamble, which included a wish for a solution of the Cyprus problem by the end of 2010, has been amended.

It now includes the words “if possible”, in the phrase expressing a wish for ‘the negotiations to be concluded by the end of 2010’.

The move reflects the Greek Cypriot side’s stance on avoiding ‘suffocating timeframes’.

The official sources told the Agency that the amendment has watered down

attempts to use the ‘wish for a solution by the end of the year’ as a deadline.

However, it has not eliminated the wish expressed by President Demetris Christofias and former Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat for a solution by the end of 2010, the report said.

The agreed draft resolution was distributed yesterday afternoon to the rest members of the UN Security Council, which will also be briefed by UN Special Advisor on Cyprus Alexander Downer.

After the briefing by Downer, the Security Council will have unofficial consultations with the view to adopt the resolution sometime today.

Downer had on Wednesday consultations with officials of the UN Secretariat and held meetings with the Permanent Representatives of Cyprus, Greece, Turkey and the members of the Security Council.

 

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.