Rival leaders of the divided Mediterranean island of Cyprus agreed today to meet three times a week to work towards solving their two communities' differences ahead of entry into the European Union.
United Nations special envoy Mr Alvaro de Soto told reporters that Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Mr Rauf Denktash had agreed to meet on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for the foreseeable future, starting next week.
He was speaking after a 90-minute meeting between the two sides ended. Mr De Soto said the meeting had been cordial.
"It was a very encouraging start," he said.
The island has been split along ethnic lines since 1974, when Turkish forces invaded the northern third of Cyprus in response to a brief Greek-inspired coup. Mr Denktash leads a breakaway state in the north, recognised only by Turkey.