The U.N. Security Council unanimously passed a six-month extension of peacekeeping operations on Cyprus citing mutual distrust and crime on the island. Wednesday’s vote at U.N. World Headquarters meant 970 uniformed peacekeepers and civilian police will remain on Cyprus until at least Dec. 15. The Security Council resolution said, “problems in a few sensitive areas” prompted extending the presence of peacekeepers who have been on the island since 1964. They cited an increase in “crimes across the cease-fire line” and distrust. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a report to the panel June 6, “distrust between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot sides has persisted, as has the military posture.” The council resolution said, though more than 7 million people have crossed the border dividing the island along an east-west axis, a resurgence of tensions made removing peacekeepers not possible at this point. © Copyright 2005 by United Press International

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