Roundup: UN official says difficult to restart Cyprus reunification negotiations

The United Nations acknowledged on Tuesday that it is difficult to restart the Cyprus reunification negotiations, one week after talks in Switzerland failed to bridge the gap between the remaining differences separating the island's Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities.

"I have no news. The situation is difficult", United Nations Secretary-General's special adviser on Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide, told journalists after completing two days of separate meetings with Greek and Turkish Cypriot politicians.

He said he is trying preserve the momentum built in 18 months of negotiations between Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci.

They managed to clear up almost all obstacles towards reunifying Cyprus but they reached a roadblock when they met at the Swiss resort of Mont Pelerin last week supposedly to wrap up their talks.

"The last mile is always the most difficult. They started discussing the issue of territorial adjustments which had not been discussed before," said Eide.

However, the United Nations official said that actually there are no differences between the two sides which cannot be bridged.

Akinci suggested that one way out of the impasse is to have "two tables", that is two negotiations running in parallel but in unison and in full coordination.

He said that one of the negotiating process between Cypriots should deal with all internal issues and the second one between Turkey, Greece and Britain, would discuss security arrangements and guarantees.

Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is scheduled to arrive in Cyprus overnight for talks on Wednesday with Eide, Anastasiades and Akinci on restarting the negotiations. Endit