Madden backs G8 idea

BRITISH High Commissioner David Madden yesterday expressed support for the involvement of the G8 countries in efforts for a Cyprus settlement.

Madden was speaking after what will probably be his last official visit to President Glafcos Clerides. The High Commissioner leaves Cyprus to become ambassador in Athens at the end of the month.

Asked to comment on reports that a senior US official was trying to involve the G8 – the group of eight most industrialised countries in the world – in the search for a Cyprus solution, Madden said this should be seen as “part of continuing international efforts to help and assist the parties here to come to a solution”.

In general, he added, he agreed with the idea, pointing out that both British Prime Minister Tony Blair and American President Bill Clinton had talked of continual efforts to assist Cyprus.

“The more countries that can help play a role, the greater the weight of that international effort will be,” Madden said.

Edward Clay is replacing Madden as British High Commissioner. He arrives on the island early in May.

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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.