Leaders of Cyprus' two communities to meet on March 21

NICOSIA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus' new President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat will meet on March 21 to restart the stalled peace process, a U.N. spokesman said Wednesday.

The date was set during a meeting between Presidential Commissioner George Iacovou and Turkish Cypriot leader's adviser Ozdil Nami at the office of the U.N. Secretary General's Special Representative in Cyprus, Michael Moller.

According to a statement released by Moller's office, the meeting will take place in the United Nations Protected Area in Nicosia.

"Today's meeting between Iacovou and Nami took place in a very cordial and constructive atmosphere and a great degree of convergence was reached on a number of issues as well, including on the possible future opening of the Ledra Street crossing," the statement quoted Moller as saying.

The Ledra Street, located in the heart of the old Walled City of Nicosia, has been bisected by the U.N. monitored Green Line since the 1960s following violence between the two communities.

The opening of the busy commercial street will be regarded as a good-will gesture from both sides.

Cyprus has remained divided since 1974 when Turkey militarily intervened and occupied the north of the island following a coup by a group of Greek officers, who pushed for a quick union with Greece.

In 1983, the Turkish Cypriot authorities declared that they had broken away from Cyprus and set up "the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus," which is recognized only by Turkey.

For several decades, the U.N. has continuously worked to persuade the two communities to find a viable solution to the Cyprus issue but has failed so far.

The election of the moderate and pro-solution Christofias as the island state's new president and Greek Cypriot leader in February has given fresh momentum to efforts for a viable and mutually acceptable solution to the decades-old Cyprus issue.

As soon as Christofias took office on Feb. 28, he pledged that reunification is the new government's top priority.

Christofias took the helm from Tassos Papadopoulos, a hardliner who led Greek Cypriots in 2004 into rejecting a comprehensive U.N. blueprint for the solution of the Cyprus issue.