Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders completed a second day of talks here Friday on reunifying their island, with their positions on a UN blueprint still seemingly miles apart.
Greek Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash are to meet daily in a month-long slog to reach a deal by March 22. If they are not successful, Turkey and Greece will intervene to push them forward until March 29.
If that fails, UN chief Kofi Annan will "fill in the blanks" to produce the draft accord that will be voted on in separate referendums in April.
Friday's talks lasted less than two hours, and the leaders will meet again on Tuesday morning, a UN official told AFP.
After the first meeting, on Thursday, each criticised the other's position but expressed a willingness to continue the effort.
Nothing seems to have changed much after the second encounter, with Papadopoulos saying that his counterpart is demanding things that are "outside the (UN) plan and its parameters".
Asked whether Friday was a better day he replied: "There are no good or bad days."
He dismissed speculation that the real horse-trading will begin when Athens and Ankara enter the fray.
"I think it will be the exact opposite: the most significant negotiations will take place before that date," he told reporters.
UN envoy Alvaro de Soto is leading talks at Nicosia's disused international airport in the UN-manned buffer zone that separates the two sides, and there is now a UN-imposed news blackout.
But Denktash said he will continue to inform his people on the progress of a fresh round of peace talks, despite that.
"If the people are not informed on the progress of a plan which will be put to a referendum in a very short time through pressure, they will make a wrong decision," Denktash told reporters outside his office in the Turkish-held sector of Nicosia after a second day of talks.
"This referendum is our fate, our future and the issue of whether we will live on Cyprus or not. It is no joke," Denktash said.
The Greek Cypriot press was pessimistic following the opening salvos between Papadopoulos, 70, and Denktash 80.
Judging by those exchanges, neither of the men is ready to make the painful compromises the UN expects if 30 years of division are to end.
"He wants it all," screamed the headline of pro-government Haravghi, slamming Denktash's stance as being outside the principles of the UN plan.
Nationalist Machi described the start of the process as a "Bad day from the morning," claiming that, from the outset, Denktash was trying to "torpedo" the talks with unacceptable demands.
Right-wing Simerini was also unhappy, saying the hard-line Turkish Cypriot leader closed the door on the return of Greek Cypriot refugees, so as to open another one to allow settlers from Turkey to remain on the island.
The paper published a poll showing that a 61 percent of Greek Cypriots would vote against the UN plan if it were put to a referendum as it stands today.
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