Sawt Falasteen - UN chief meets rival Cyprus leaders ahead of talks

Guterres sat down to dine in Geneva with President Nikos Christodoulides of the Greek-speaking, internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, a UN spokeswoman said.

On Tuesday the three will meet for talks at the United Nations, alongside Britain, Greece and Turkey -- the three guarantors of the Mediterranean island's security since 1960.

"This meeting is being held in the context of the secretary-general's good offices' efforts on the Cyprus issue," the UN spokeswoman told AFP.

"The informal meeting will provide an opportunity for a meaningful discussion on the way forward."

All five convened delegations were at Monday's dinner, she said.

Since a 1974 invasion by Turkey triggered by an Athens-backed coup, the island has been divided between the Greek-speaking south and the Turkish Cypriot north, which unilaterally declared independence in 1983 but is recognised only by Ankara.

The Republic of Cyprus is an EU member state. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus covers about a third of island, including parts of the capital Nicosia.

Decades of UN-backed talks have failed to reunify the island.

Greek Cypriots in 2004 overwhelmingly rejected a UN-backed reunification plan in a referendum.

The last round of full-on peace talks, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, collapsed in 2017.

- 'Absolute seriousness' -

In a televised address on Saturday, Christodoulides said he was heading to Geneva "with absolute seriousness and with the aim of conducting a substantive discussion that will pave the way for the resumption of negotiations for the resolution of the Cyprus issue".

"We are ready and well prepared to be constructive... to engage in meaningful discussions, and to achieve an outcome that will keep the process active," he said.

Christodoulides held a national council meeting of Greek Cypriot political party leaders in Geneva on Monday.

"There is consensus, a constructive spirit of unity, and a shared goal: to ensure that this multilateral conference serves as a springboard toward breaking the deadlock and restarting negotiations," Cyprus government spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis told reporters afterwards.

"We are preparing for multiple scenarios, ensuring that in every case, the president has concrete initiatives and proposals."

- Nameplates set out -

Following the dinner, the talks proper are set to begin on Tuesday at the UN Palais des Nations.

Nameplates had been set out, with Guterres on one side of the central table, opposite the two Cypriot leaders, who will sit next to each other.

Flanking Guterres, nameplates were set out for Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, and for Britain's Europe minister Stephen Doughty.

In October last year, Guterres hosted an informal dinner with Christodoulides and Tatar in New York.

The rival Cypriot leaders also met in January to discuss opening more crossing points across the divided island as part of trust-building efforts.

They met in the buffer zone that has split the island for decades.

Q.Najjar--SF-PST