Downer still undecided on Cyprus job.FORMER Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer Alexander John Gosse Downer, MP (born 9 September 1951), Australian politician, became Foreign Minister of Australia in March 1996 This makes him the longest serving Foreign Minister in Australian history. is still undecided on whether to take up a position with the United Nations as a Special Envoy for Cyprus or stay in local politics, he said. Last month it was revealed that Downer down·er n. A depressant or sedative drug, such as a barbiturate or tranquilizer. was in discussions with the UN as a possible UN Special Envoy for Cyprus. He described the news leak Noun 1. news leak - unauthorized (especially deliberate) disclosure of confidential information leak disclosure, revealing, revelation - the speech act of making something evident as ''unfortunate'' but not serious, adding that discussions about the job were still ongoing. ''If they decide they want me to do a job for them, then I'll decide one way or the other then,'' Downer told the Nine Network. ''It is only a part-time job. That's the first thing. It's not a full-time job and secondly, yes intellectually it would be very interesting," he remarked. He said the Cyprus problem had remained unresolved since 1974. "But that, of course, illustrates the point: it's a very difficult and complex issue to resolve," he said. The former Australian diplomat said his taking up the job was a possibility for him, "but I'm sure they'll be considering other people as well," he added. There has been no UN special envoy for Cyprus since Peruvian diplomat Alvaro de Soto de So·to , Hernando or Fernando 1496?-1542. Spanish explorer who landed in Florida in 1539 with 600 men and set out to search for the fabled riches of the north. left the post in 2004 after Greek Cypriots Greek Cypriots are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus. They form the island's largest ethnic community, comprising nearly 80 percent of the population. The Greek Cypriots are mostly Eastern Orthodox Christians, members of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus, an autocephalous church rejected the Annan plan. Taye-Brook Zerihoun, the UN Special Representative in Cyprus said last week the procedure at the UN is to identify possible candidates for the Cyprus job, and contacting them to find out if they were available was under way. He confirmed one of the people that had been approached was Downer. Copyright [c] Cyprus Mail Cyprus Mail is a Cypriot English-language newspaper. It is published daily (except Mondays) and a number of articles are available online. Its current chief editor is Kosta Pavlowitch. The managing director is Kyriakos Iacovides. 2008 Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion