Cyprus's new president, Dimitris Christofias is due to be sworn in today as Turkish-Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat said that he believed a reunification deal could be just months away.

Christofias said that under his presidency every effort would be made to achieve peace in Cyprus so that «justice can be achieved for the people who have suffered for more than half a century.»

Talat made similar overtures yesterday, saying that a solution to the island's division could be achieved this year.

«A new phase of negotiations may start about April,» he told Reuters. «We have every reason to expect a solution by the end of the year.»

Talat encouraged Christofias to move quickly to begin negotiations. «Time is very limited,» he said. «In the next couple of years we must use this window of opportunity because it may be the last one.»