UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- The U.N. Security Council urges Cyprus to fully implement last month's agreement by Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.
The panel of 15 Tuesday endorsed U.N. Undersecretary-General Ibrahim Gambari's mission to the Mediterranean isle early last month and the accord he helped them work out.
The council expressed support for U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's continued efforts to reach a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem, said Ambassador Nana Effah-Apenteng of Ghana, this month's president of the panel, in a statement read out to reporters. Council members welcomed the agreement and called for its immediate, full implementation.
It calls for technical talks, on issues affecting lives on both sides, and on substantive issues, which would contribute to a comprehensive settlement, said Gambari, who briefed the council earlier Tuesday.
After the talks in Nicosia last month with Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, Gambari read out a text comprising a "set of principles" and a "decision by the two leaders" which outlined steps to resolve the decades-old inter-communal conflict.
The accord included commitment to the unification of Cyprus based on a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation and political equality, as set out in Security Council resolutions.
In 2004, 76 per cent of Greek Cypriots rejected a U.N.-brokered comprehensive settlement accepted by 65 percent of Turkish Cypriots.
The United Nations has been involved in the island since 1964 when the U.N. Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus was set up to prevent a recurrence of fighting, contribute to the maintenance and restoration of law and order, and contribute to a return to normal conditions. The mission still maintains a buffer zone and supervises ceasefire lines on the island.
