1. Christofias meets UN Security Council five

President Christofias yesterday briefed the Ambassadors of all five Permanent Members of the UN Security Council, the US, the UK, Russia, China, and France.British High Commissioner Peter Millet told the press afterwards that the meeting had been very useful. “We listened, with great interest, to the President’s expectations and explanations prior to his important meeting with Mr Talat on 21 March and onwards". He added that the five had reiterated their commitment to supporting UN efforts to achieve a settlement and their support for the implementation 8 July agreement. "We look forward to seeing progress in this area and to a momentum being created on Friday and onwards, and we look forward to further meetings of this kind with the President in the future.”

2. UN statement

The UN Secretary-General Mr Ban Ki-Moon announced yesterday that he has decided to send to Cyprus the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe as leader of an assessment team, to engage in dialogue with all the involved parties, aimed at achieving a breakthrough in the longstanding Cyprus problem. Speaking to the press in New York after an informal luncheon meeting of the UN Security Council in New York, he said the Cyprus problem was among the issues discussed.He said the international community should seize the momentum and window of opportunity, created by the election of Mr Demetris Christofias as the new Cyprus President and his expressed commitment to resolve the political issue. He added that Mr Talat had also conveyed his willingness to engage in a constructive dialogue to him during their meeting in Dakar, Senegal.

3. Christofias on Kyrenia

President Christofias said he is looking forward to returning to Kyrenia, a free Kyrenia, even if under Turkish Cypriot rule. Addressing the visiting Patriarch of Alexandria and All of Africa, Theodoros II, Christofias added that he had committed himself to that and for the Kyrenians to have the right of return. Asked to comment on this after the meeting, the Patriarch said "we have already agreed to a federation. When one is created there will be a part that will be governed by Turks. But when we talk of federation we mean one with a strong central government and two regions that will govern perfunctorily".


4.Turkish Cypriot statement

Talat's spokesperson, Hasan Ercakica, has said that during the Friday meeting between the Turkish two leaders they want to find out whether there is a need for the 8 July process and whether Christofias is willing to sit at negotiations with the Turkish Cypriot side for a comprehensive solution.He said that the 8 July agreement was an initiative undertaken in order to overcome Papadopoulos' negative stance to negotiations and they were waiting to see if Christofias interprets the agreement in the same way. "If so then it means that we have a problem”, he said. He added that the 8 July agreement has been turned into a way of blocking the negotiations between the leaders and that this is also mentioned in the reports of the UN Secretary-General.

5. Property issue in the north
The Turkish Cypriot press reports that T/C banks are refusing to give loans with property with T/C title deeds as collateral. The papers also report that there is a slowdown in new buildings and a reduction in the number of foreigners investing in real estate in the north, while prices have dropped by 40%.