UN’s Spehar to inform Security Council on Cyprus after meeting leaders

THE UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Cyprus and head of the Unficyp peacekeeping force, Elizabeth Spehar, yesterday met both of the island’s leaders to brief them about her forthcoming contacts with senior US and UN officials ahead of Security Council talks later this month on renewal of the Unficyp mandate.

She is expected to inform the Security Council on the issue on January 23.

Mrs Spehar met President Mustafa Akıncı for two hours yesterday afternoon, following talks in the South with Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades.

Mr Akıncı said after their talks: “We have sent a message to the UN SecretaryGeneral that we are waiting to see him show more attention to the Cyprus issue.”

He added: “The biggest blow to efforts to reach a solution, comes from the inability to digest the political equality of the Turkish Cypriot people.”

He called this “unacceptable”, adding: “We want the secretary-general to understand our sensitivities.”