Roundup: UN chief "most probably" to preside over meeting of Cypriot leaders in Switzerland: officials

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will "most probably" preside over the meeting of the Cypriot community leaders in their make-or-break negotiations for a Cyprus solution in Mont Pelerin, Switzerland early in November, Cypriot and UN officials in Nicosia said on Thursday.

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci have agreed to move their negotiations abroad to avoid internal pressures when they will be tackling the sensitive issue of territorial adjustments in a give and take last-stage process.

Cypriot government spokesman Nicos Anastasiades said Ban will "most probably" be present at the meeting of the two leaders. Ban's special adviser on Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide, said "that might happen."

Though he said the meeting will be mostly ceremonial, Ban's presence is expected to act as a catalyst for further developments, marking his strong personal interest in a Cyprus solution.

The Switzerland meetings are considered to be the direct result of a meeting Ban had with the Cypriot leaders on Sept. 25 at the UN Headquarters and of at least two separate private conversations with each one.

"The Secretary General is taking a personal engagement in supporting the negotiations in Switzerland and will do everything he can and do what is right for the process at the end of the day," Eide, a former Norwegian Foreign Minister, said.

"Seen from where he sits, on the 38th floor of the UN building, this is one of the few peace processes in the world that seems to be moving in the right direction," he added.

Eide said the talks, from the 7th to the 11th of November at Mont Pelerin, overlooking the lake of Geneva, will give an even better clarity on whether the goal of a Cyprus solution, which has evaded a settlement for more than four decades, "is achievable or not."

Eide will preside over the negotiations in Mont Pelerin.

"We are all of us very clear that very important issues are yet to be settled, including the issue of territorial re-adjustments and the issue of security and guarantees...which I hope will follow soon," said Eide.

He added that the UN is in touch with prospective contributors for the financing of a Cyprus solution.

Mindful of a 2004 fiasco when Greek Cypriots soundly rejected a plan to solve the Cyprus problem which was drafted in a high-handed way by UN officials, Eide said a solution must be agreed upon by the Cypriots themselves and must also be in line with European Union principles and those of the Council of Europe, "respecting the principle upon which the EU is built." Endit