No second meeting between Cyprus leaders

There will be no second meeting between Greek Cypriot leader and President of the Republic of Cyprus Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat during the visit of the UN Under-Secretary-General for political affairs Ibrahim Gambari this week.

Papadopoulos and Talat met for the first time on Monday and there had been hopes that a second meeting during Gambari‘s visit would be possible.

However, statements by both sides make it clear that there is still wide disagreement about what form such committees should take, with the Greek Cypriot side preferring more substantial talks.

Gambari is due to report back to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan about whether the launch of UN-led talks to reunite the island will be possible any time soon.

Gambari arrives on Thursday morning and will meet Papadopoulos in the morning and Talat in the afternoon.

He will have two (separate) meetings with each leader and will also meet other political leaders on the island. He will depart on Sunday.