Experts to arrive to review UNFICYP

EXPERTS from UN headquarters in New York are due on the island this weekend to carry out a review of UNFICYP, the peacekeeping force in Cyprus, spokesman Brian Kelly said yesterday.

The move was requested by Secretary-general Kofi Annan in June during the renewal of the force’s six-monthly mandate.

“The mission’s main task is to make a first hand evaluation of the situation on the island and report back to the Secretary-general,” said Kelly.

“They are expected to arrive in the course of this weekend.”

The team will consist of four UN experts who will remain on the island for several days and report back to Annan, who has asked for the review to be completed by the end of September.

The next six-monthly review of UNFICYP’s mandate will be on December 15.

The Cyprus government is against any changes to the 1,200-strong force, which has been on the island for 40 years patrolling the 180km-long buffer zone.

Annan made his call for the September review during the last mandate renewal in June. It followed the Greek Cypriot rejection of his reunification plan in referendum in April. Under the Annan plan, the number of UN troops on the island would have doubled.

President Tassos Papadopoulos has said that any reduction or withdrawal of the force would be a mistake.

However, the international community feels it has seen enough changes to warrant a review of the force in Cyprus; these include the opening of checkpoints in 2003, Turkey’s new conciliatory attitude and Cyprus’ EU accession in May, making it the only member state hosting a UN peacekeeping force.

“It should bear in mind that the implicit central purpose of all peacekeeping operations is to provide an environment conducive to the resolution of conflict,” Annan said in his June report, implying that, in Cyprus, this may no longer be the case.

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.