Cyprus News Agency: News in English, 06-08-29

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From: The Cyprus News Agency at <http://www.cyna.org.cy>

CONTENTS

[01] SECURITY COUNCIL - CYPRUS QUESTION

[02] FIA - INVESTIGATION - TALAT

[01] SECURITY COUNCIL - CYPRUS QUESTION

In a statement to the press, agreed by the Security Council, which met Tuesday and focused mainly on the Cyprus problem, its President said the members of the SC express support for the Secretary-Generals continued efforts aimed at reaching a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem.

In this context, they welcome the Agreement that was reached on 8 July during the mission of the Under Secretary General Ibrahim Gambari to the region, UN Security Council President, Ghana`s Ambassador Nana Effah-Apenteng said.

He added that the members of the Security Council call for full implementation of the 8 July Agreement without further delay, and urge that work begin quickly.

In statements Apenteng said that the technical committees should have started work before the end of July and they havent, adding that this was the reason they put the last paragraph in the statement to the press.

``We also recognize that this Friday a little progress has been made,`` the SC President said, adding however, that ``there is still much more to be done and the assessment of the Council is that until we are sure of concrete and tangible progress it would not be advisable to launch full scale negotiations because there are still some differences as to how to tackle the problem.``

Apenteng noted that ``we hope that the SG and especially the USG will also continue to engage the parties and try to see how soon they could launch full scale negotiations but that a lot of course will depend upon the parties and we signaled that the parties should recognize that eventually it is only through peaceful coexistence that the Cyprus problem can be resolved.``

Replying to a question on what active role can the UN play to the Cyprus problem, Apenteng said that the UN still has a role to play and a positive one in that, and pointed out the fact that USG Gambari got the parties talking for the first time since 2004, which ``in itself shows that the UN has a role to play and the UN has been the only independent broker and that is the most independent body that we can get to encourage the parties.``

``Some of them dont want this issue to be discussed in the European Union so if the EU is out the only viable organization that I can see playing a positive role in this area would be the UN,`` he added.

Asked whether he knows how the situation of the Turkish Cypriots, who accepted the Annan plan but still remain under ``isolation`` will improve, Apenteng said that he has ``no idea how to solve this situation,`` adding that ``I wish I had a magic one but I dont.``

``And I think that is the course of the matter and the SG and the UN officials who are responsible for this will continue to engage the parties and to encourage them to be talking to each-other. You cannot resolve a conflict if the parties are not talking to each-other,`` Apeneng said.

``It takes two to tango and therefore our best option is that we continue to engage the parties,`` he concluded.

On July 8 Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos met Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat in the presence of Gambari. The two leaders agreed the commencement of meetings between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots on a technical level on issues that affect the day to day life of people and concurrently those that concern substantive issues.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third.

[02] FIA - INVESTIGATION - TALAT

According to a FIA press political neutrality is fundamental to the FIAs role as the governing body of international motor sport. No compromise or violation of this neutrality is acceptable.

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