UN official says world body committed to Cyprus peace deal

The United Nations remains committed to helping rival Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots reach an agreement to bridge the island nation's ethnic rift, a senior UN official said Wednesday. The problem has been a source of instability in the east Mediterranean for decades.

UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo said that she reiterated to new Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides the "commitment of the Secretary-General to supporting a resolution on the Cyprus issue."

She is scheduled to speak with Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar later in the day as well as addressing peace activists in the UN controlled buffer zone that divides the capital Nicosia.

The UN has been facilitating numerous failed rounds of talks between the two sides since 1974, when a Turkish invasion triggered by a coup aimed at union with Greece...