NICOSIA, Sept 28 (AFP) - UN experts recommend the number of peacekeepers in Cyprus should be reduced by 30 percent but believe the 40-year-old mission on the divided island should not be dismantled, a newspaper reported Tuesday.
Phileleftheros, quoting the leaked report, said a number of UN observation posts along the 180-kilometre (110-mile) ceasefire line would be scrapped and replaced by mobile units, reflecting an easing of tensions.
The force would also be downsized but retain its original mandate to maintain the peace and monitor the ceasefire.
The Greek Cypriot government says it has not been informed of the UN's recommendations but would be satisfied to see the UN mandate remain intact, even if the 1,200-strong force is whittled down by almost a third.
"If the reports are true we would accept the proposed development and be happy that the force's mandate remains the same," a government official told AFP.
A UN source told AFP the UN Security Council was likely to study the recommendations in mid-October.
UN chief Kofi Annan called for the review after his peace plan to reunite the island collapsed when it was overwhelmingly rejected by Greek Cypriots in an April referendum, although it was endorsed by the rival Turkish Cypriots.
The United Nations Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) is the world's longest serving peacekeeping force and was sent to the island in 1964 to restore and maintain order after fierce intercommunal clashes.
It has stayed ever since and now patrols the ceasefire line drawn up in 1974 after Turkey invaded the north of the island in response to a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece.
But Annan has said that due to the "disappointing" April vote -- which saw a divided Cyprus join the EU in May --, an overall reappraisal of peacekeeping activities on the island was needed.
The four-member UN team was on a fact-finding mission on the island in August.
"I think the review was necessary because things have changed on the ground and this is an expensive operation. We will look at whatever is produced along with everybody else," said a Western diplomat.
Britain, Argentina and Slovakia are UNFICYP's main troop contributors but the Greek Cypriot government foots a third of the annual bill of 47.4 million dollars. The force's current six-month mandate expires mid-December.