US official visits Cyprus

The U.S. official, who first visited the Greek Cypriot part of the island, was to meet with Greek Cypriot President Tassos Papadopulos along with other Greek Cypriot leaders, the Anatolia news agency said.

She is scheduled to have talks with Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat tomorrow.

On her arrival Kennedy said she would listen to both sides’ arguments on the future of the divided island and would ask for a clarification of Greek Cypriot security concerns, she said.

The Greek Cypriot administration last week proposed a limited Greek Cypriot military withdrawal from the cease-fire line dividing the Mediterranean island, provided Turkish forces in the occupied north pull back as well.

Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot government dismissed the Greek Cypriot proposal as a move to halt international efforts to end the isolation of the island’s Turkish Cypriot community.

Washington last week welcomed the Greek proposal. A spokesman for the U.S. State Department said the United States had been urging Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot forces to cancel military exercises set for the fall as they have done for several years in a row.

The Greek Cypriot administration of Cyprus joined the European Union on May 1 after the Greek Cypriots voted against a U.N. blueprint in April aimed at reunfying the island. The Turkish Cypriots said "yes" to the U.N. plan in the April referenda but was left out of the EU.

The United States earlier this month also announced that it planned to give some $30.5 million in aid to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC). The package is expected to be discussed during Kennedy’s meeting with Talat.

Kennedy served in Turkey at the beginning of the 1990s, and her last visit to the country was in 1996. She was recently appointed to the deputy secretary of state post, replacing Lynn Pascoe.

She held tallks with Turkish officials in Ankara on a range of issues, including the latest developments in the Middle East and Iraq, before heading to Cyprus.