Draft outline of overall agreement on Cyprus to be prepared.

he leaders of the

Greek Cypriot and

Turkish Cypriot communities have accepted a UN proposal to help prepare, "on a noncommittal basis", a draft outline of an overall agreement on the question of Cyprus by the end of May.

Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar met on 6 April in New York with George Vassiliou, President of Cyprus, and Rauf Denktash, leader of the Turkish Cypriot community, as part of his mission of good offices aimed at achieving a just and lasting settlement in Cyprus. The day before, the two had met with the Secretary-General separately.

At a historic luncheon in Geneva on 24 August 1988, hosted by Mr. Perez de Cuellar, the leaders had expressed their willingness to meet without preconditions and to attempt to achieve by I june 1989 a negotiated settlement of all aspects of the Cyprus problem.

Two rounds of talks were held in Nicosia, the Cypriot capital, between September 1988 and March 1989-the first time that the leaders had held direct talks aimed at a comprehensive settlement of the 24-year-old Cyprus situation.

Between September 1988 and March 1989, they met for some 80 hours. The meetings took place at the residence of Oscar Camilion, the Secretary-General's Special Representative in Cyprus. During the second round, beginning in January 1989, an analysis of all issues...