Military

DATE=03/30/2004

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=CQ CYPRUS / TALKS (L O)

NUMBER=2-314603

BYLINE=LISA SCHLEIN

DATELINE=GENEVA

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

/// EDS: REISSUED TO CHANGE INTRO AND FIRST PARA. OF TEXT. ///

INTRO: A U-N official says all four delegations attending the talks on Cyprus reunification have handed in their comments on U-N Secretary-General Kofi Annan's plan for ending years of division on the island. Lisa Schlein in Geneva reports the U-N secretary-general, who is overseeing the negotiations in Buergenstock, Switzerland, says a deal must be concluded by Wednesday.

TEXT: Mr. Annan gave copies of his revised plan for reunifying the divided island to leaders of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot delegations. Copies also were given to the Greek and Turkish foreign ministers who are participating in the negotiations.

U-N spokesman Stefan Dujarric says the delegations gave Mr. Annan their comments on changes he had made to the plan. He says the secretary-general and his staff now are studying the reactions while talks among the parties continue.

/// DUJARRIC ACT ///

What we will bring to the table tomorrow is a final version of the plan, which may or may not incorporate the suggestions, which have been given by the Turkish Cypriot and the Greek Cypriot delegations. This is really the process we are at now. We are analyzing their inputs and seeing how they may be incorporated into the plan.

/// END ACT ///

The 220-page document is accompanied by nine-thousand pages of annexes, a testament to more than 30 years of on-again, off-again negotiations. This hefty file reportedly is meeting with objections on all sides.

The Annan plan calls for a loose federation of two states -- one Greek and the other Turkish. About 180-thousand Greek Cypriots fled the northern part of the island when Turkey invaded in 1974. Officials say the revised plan reduces the number of Greek Cypriots allowed to return and settle in the north to 18 percent of the Turkish Cypriot population. This is compared to 21 percent contained in the previous proposal.

The plan would also allow some of the 40-thousand Turkish troops currently on the island to remain. The Greek delegation says it is unhappy with these changes.

Because of a news blackout, Mr. Dujarric says he cannot reveal details.

/// 2ND DUJARRIC ACT ///

We are really not commenting on the substance of the plan because the talks, the discussions are still going on. But I think one would not find it surprising that in any negotiation as you get down to the wire, the tension does build.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Annan says the parties must agree to the plan by Wednesday. If they do not, he says he will complete it himself. After that, the two Cypriot communities will vote on the plan in two separate referendums set for April 20.

If either side rejects it, then only the Greek Cypriot part of this divided island will be admitted to the European Union on May 1st. (SIGNED)

NEB/LS/MAR/KL/RH