NICOSIA - Cypriot Foreign Minister George Iacovou said on Monday the Greek Cypriot side was not ready to make its positions known on changes to a UN reunification plan for divided Cyprus, as requested by UN chief Kofi Annan before re-engaging in a new peace initiative.
"We cannot accept the demand to submit written and detailed changes to the Annan (UN) plan because we do not know how the secretary general intends to handle this," Iacovou told reporters.
"Would he give them to the Turkish Cypriots to consider or to reject?" he asked.
The minister was responding to comments made by US Cyprus envoy Laura Kennedy, who told a local newspaper that Washington backed a UN call for Greek Cypriots to put on paper the changes they seek to the plan.
Nicosia wants a deal on how any future negotiations are conducted, with Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos in favour of mediation, rather than arbitration. He is also unwilling to commit to any set deadlines.
Peace talks have been shelved since a UN blueprint failed to reunite the island at a referendum last April, with the Greek Cypriots rejecting the plan and Turkish Cypriots voting in favour of it.
Annan recently called on Papadopoulos to spell out the changes he wanted to ensure that the UN blueprint would be accepted by the Greek Cypriot side.
Papadopoulos has declined to do so, arguing his bargaining position would be weakened.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded and occupied the northern third of the island following a Greek Cypriot coup seeking to unite the island with Greece.
04/04/2005 16:37 GMT