Shuttle diplomacy to restart Cyprus peace talks, says UN envoy

A United Nations envoy says he will employ shuttle diplomacy to help Cyprus' rival leaders get back to the negotiating table after reunification talks broke down last week.

Envoy Espen Barth Eide, the UN secretary-general's special adviser on Cyprus, said after contacts Monday with Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and breakaway Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci that resuming negotiations won't be easy.

But Eide says both leaders are willing to get things moving again.

Talks aimed at reunifying the ethnically divided island as a federation ground to a halt last week after the two leaders clashed on how many people would be eligible to reclaim homes and property in zones each side will control.

A 1974 coup aimed at union with Greece triggered a Turkish invasion that split the island.

[AP]