UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has given Greek and Turkish leaders in Cyprus proposals for a final political settlement and asked them to react within a week.
Mr Annan told reporters he believed his proposals could "form the basis of a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem" and said he had "broad support" from the Security Council.
He declined to go into details of the plan, but said: "It's going to be a tough decision that will require courage, wisdom and vision and I am confident they are capable of it."
The proposals were delivered earlier in the day to Greek Cypriot leader Mr Glafcos Clerides in Nicosia and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart, Mr Rauf Denktash, who is recovering from surgery in New York.
Mr Annan said: "I think they realise that we have a limited opportunity as we move forward and there is a unique timing in the sense of getting a united Cyprus into the European Union, and I hope they will seize upon it."
AFP