HOLDING a multilateral conference on the Cyprus problem is still a target, said UN Special Adviser Alexander Downer yesterday, despite the peace process being shifted down a few gears in recent weeks. The UN envoy met with President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu separately yesterday to discuss how the process can be taken forward after the UN decided to stop hosting leaders’ meetings, reaching the conclusion they were not helping overcome the deadlock in the talks.According to Downer, the UN team in Cyprus has engaged in ‘shuttle diplomacy’ between the two sides in recent weeks, talking with the two leaders’ representatives on the best way to move the process forward. ... 7 comments

THE GOVERNMENT yesterday blamed the Turkish side for the UN’s announcement that it would be taking a back seat in the talks for the foreseeable future, while opposition parties turned on Special Adviser Alexander Downer.Downer, in a rare news conference on Friday said he had informed the two leaders of the UN’s decision to downgrade the peace talks, putting an end to “unproductive” leaders’ meetings, while calling on the leaders to figure out a way to convene a multilateral conference in the summer.  ... 10 comments

TURKISH Cypriot and Greek Cypriot youth met yesterday at the basketball courts at the Ledra Palace to shoot hoops and afterwards gobble up tasty food.The event, organised by PeacePlayers-Cyprus (PPI-CY), a local non-profit organisation “whose mission is to unite, educate and inspire children to develop mutual understanding and respect for each other through the game of basketball”.PPI-CY was set up some five years ago and has since worked with over 3,000 children and is currently the only year-round bicommunal youth sports organisation on the island.The UN offers support by providing a meeting space, food and buses for transport. ... Read on

U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan has asked the U.N. Security Council for support in implementing an April 10 deadline for Syria to partially implement his peace plan, with a full ceasefire within 48 hours thereafter, envoys said on Monday.Annan told the 15-nation council behind closed doors that Syria has agreed to the idea of such a deadline, which would include the end of troop movements toward population centers, the withdrawal of heavy weapons and a start to the withdrawal of troops, U.N. diplomats told Reuters on condition of anonymity... Read on

 TURKISH Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu took the ‘official UN line’ on Varosha last night after remaining tight-lipped all day following reports that Varosha could be opened to its Greek Cypriot residents on July 1 – under Turkish Cypriot administration.The report in Turkish daily Milliyet naturally drew strong reactions from the Greek Cypriot side, which said any proposals, which violated UN resolution would be rejected.“Actions that aim to create impressions and go beyond decisions of the international organisation [UN] or violate them are not accepted by the Greek Cypriot side,” said Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou. Turkey and the north remained silent about the reports for much of the day yesterday... 18 comments

Syrian forces pounded the battered city of Homs with tank and mortar fire and troops pummelled several other rebel strongholds on Saturday, leaving at least 24 dead, opposition activists said.With the bloodshed showing no signs of abating, the U.N.-Arab League peace envoy for Syria, Kofi Annan, flew to Moscow, seeking Russian backing for his efforts to secure a ceasefire.Western and Arab states want Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to stand down but Russia, a long-time ally of Syria, has put the onus on the armed rebels and their foreign backers to make the first move... Read on

The European Union banned the wife of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from travelling to the EU or shopping with European companies in a move to stop her buying the Chanel dresses and Louboutin shoes she apparently craves.The EU's latest round of sanctions, which also targeted the president's mother and sister, is notable for including Assad's London-born wife Asma, whose luxury shopping habit was laid bare this month in a cache of hacked emails.She was once admired for her cosmopolitan glamour, but has over the past year turned into a hate figure for many Syrians, standing by her husband as he conducts a crackdown against a popular uprising in which thousands have been killed... Read on

THINGS must be bad on the Cyprob front if the normally optimistic – at least in public - UN envoy Alexander Downer is talking down the negotiations as opposed to talking them up.Following on from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s downbeat assessment in his latest report, Downer has made two references this week that suggest he has almost given up.“We have to be honest. I think the negotiations could be going better than they are going,” he said on Tuesday. On Wednesday he was quoted as saying the talks would most likely come to a halt in July when Cyprus takes over the EU presidency.  ... 4 comments

Renegade soldiers said they seized power in Mali on Thursday and ordered its borders closed, threatening to reignite instability in a Saharan region shaken by the conflict in Libya.The overnight coup bid was led by low-ranking soldiers angry at the government's failure to stamp out a two-month-old separatist rebellion in the north of the west African state.Heavy weapons fire rang out throughout the night as the presidential palace came under attack. The whereabouts of President Amadou Toumani Toure, who oversaw a decade of relative stability, are unknown.Mali's neighbours, the United Nations and world powers from Paris to Washington called for a return to constitutional rule... 1 comment

The U.N. Security Council, including Russia and China, threw its weight on Wednesday behind efforts by Kofi Annan to end the bloody conflict in Syria, providing a rare moment of global unity in the face of the year-long crisis.In a statement approved by all its 15 members, the council threatened Syria with unspecified "further steps" if it failed to comply with Annan's peace plan, which calls for a ceasefire and demands swift access for aid agencies.Although the original statement was diluted at Russia's demand, editing out any specific ultimatums, the fact that all world powers signed up to the proposal dealt a serious blow to President Bashar al-Assad as he battles a popular uprising... Read on