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Lobby for support in Cyprus

NICOSIA (Cyprus): The two candidates who knocked incumbent Tassos Papadopoulos out of Cyprus’ presidential race in a shock first round of voting were lobbying on Monday for the support of the loser’s backers.

Communist party leader Demetris Christofias (61), and 59-year-old former Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides, of the right-wing DISY party, are vying for the five-year presidency in a February 24 runoff.

Both are seen as more conciliatory than the hardline Papadopoulos over attempts to reach agreement with Turkish Cypriots to try to reunite the island. The two men have said they want negotiations with the Turkish Cypriots who have been split from the Greek Cypriot south since 1974, when a failed bid to unite the island with Greece triggered a Turkish invasion. The island’s division has proved a major stumbling block to Turkey’s efforts to join the E.U. — AP

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