The UN talks on the status of Cyprus later this month look set to be postponed because of the illness of President Glafkos Clerides of Cyprus, a close aide said in Nicosia yesterday.
Mr Clerides (81) is to have bowel surgery this morning for the removal of a polyp, believed to be benign, which was discovered during a check-up earlier this week. Doctors expect a recuperation period of between two and six weeks.
"It all depends on what the doctors tell us after the operation," a close aide of Mr Clerides said.
Pressed on whether there was any prospect of the talks starting on May 23rd in New York as scheduled, the official answered: "No, there will most probably be a delay of a few days, but the doctors will tell us." Envoys from the UN, Britain and the US who were due in Cyprus in coming days have also put off their visits.
Mr Clerides will undergo surgery this morning at a private Nicosia clinic where he has been resting since Tuesday. He briefly left the clinic yesterday morning to attend a cabinet meeting.
Asked if the New York talks would be put off, a jovial Mr Clerides told journalists as he entered the clinic: "We will know after the operation."
Mr Clerides and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mr Rauf Denktash, were due to begin separate talks with UN officials on May 23rd.
It was to be the third round of talks held under UN auspices on the status of the island, divided in a Turkish invasion in 1974 after a brief Greek-inspired coup.
Mr Denktash wished Mr Clerides a speedy recovery. "I was told that Clerides has an inflammatory illness," he said. "I hope this won't affect the talks."
A visit by the UN envoy, Mr Alvaro de Soto, to Cyprus has been postponed because of the sudden illness of Mr Clerides. Mr de Soto was due in Cyprus on Sunday to prepare for the new round of so-called proximity talks on reuniting the island. Previous rounds of talks took place in New York from December 3rd to 14th, 1999, and in Geneva from January 31st to February 8th this year.
Mr de Soto, who is the special adviser to the UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, on Cyprus, has also postponed his planned visits next week to Greece and Turkey. He had also planned to hold talks with Mr Denktash.
Meanwhile, President Suleyman Demirel of Turkey is planning a one-day farewell visit to northern Cyprus tomorrow before his mandate ends, Mr Denktash said yesterday.