[01]

The announcement of Ritter's death came from Chief of Mission of the United Nations Operation in Cyprus, James Holger.

Mr Ritter was a retired Swiss diplomat, who had been appointed as Third Member of the CMP by the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, in June 1998.

He was due to return to Cyprus in February to attend the 84th session of the CMP scheduled for the end of February.

Meanwhile forensic experts are continuing to exhume the remains of missing persons and war dead of the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus at two local cemeteries. The process, which started in June last year, is expected to be completed and relatives notified about the fate of their loved ones in the second week of February.

Nearly 1,600 persons are missing since the Turkish invasion of 1974 and so far the fate of only two of them has been established (a US citizen of Cypriot origin and a 16-year-old Greek Cypriot boy).

[02]

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Liden said his country is a "strong proponent of the enlargement of the European Union (EU) and looks forward to the accession of Cyprus".

He added that the conclusions of the Helsinki Summit "should encourage the bringing about of a solution to the Cyprus problem and speed up the accession of Cyprus to the EU".

From the Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office (PIO) Server at http://www.pio.gov.cy/

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