**Talks on reunifying the divided island of Cyprus are intensifying, with the leaders of the Greek and Turkish communities starting new negotiations.**Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias and breakaway Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat will hold two three-day sessions.
After this week’s talks, the second round will be held later in January.
But the two men have held 60 meetings in the past 16 months and a solution to the Cyprus problem still seems elusive.
Mr Christofias’ new year message to his Greek Cypriot community was downbeat, and he said the two sides were not close to compromise.
Several issues had yet to be discussed adequately because of continuing disagreements, he added.
Slow movement
This week’s talks are being held in the UN buffer zone that divides Nicosia.
Despite the renewed dialogue, there is little optimism in Cyprus that the talks will lead to anything conclusive, says the BBC’s Tabitha Morgan in Nicosia.
Northern Cyprus - which is recognised as a state only by Turkey - is scheduled to hold elections in April and Mr Talat desperately needs to present voters with some clear results if he is to stand any chance of re-election, our correspondent says.
When the Turkish Cypriot leader began talks with Mr Christofias in 2008, he predicted a deal within months, that would have united the island and therefore made northern Cyprus part of the EU.
None of this has happened.
Mr Talat’s popularity is low - the result of what many Turkish Cypriots see as his chronic mis-management of the economy, our correspondent in Nicosia says.
According to recent opinion polls, he is likely to be defeated by his main rival, veteran nationalist Dervish Eroglu.
Mr Eroglu takes a tough stance on the Cyprus problem and his election would undoubtedly make the search for a solution more difficult, our correspondent says. His nationalist UBP party wants the island to remain divided and has its sights on a two-state model.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish forces invaded the island in response to a Greek Cypriot attempt to make it part of Greece.
The last attempt at a negotiated solution to the Cypriot problem - in 2004 - collapsed when Turkish Cypriots voted in favour of a UN settlement plan, but Greek Cypriots rejected it.
As a result, Cyprus - or the southern part ruled by Greek Cypriots - joined the European Union that year, while the north remained effectively excluded.