国际英语新闻：Clinton calls for tough decisions for Cyprus reunification

NICOSIA, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday called for tough decisions for a Cyprus re-unification solution.

"The status quo has gone for too long," Clinton said in a taped message shown at a conference of overseas Cypriots in Nicosia.

The conference brings together representatives of hundreds of thousands of expatriate Cypriots living mainly in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia.

Overseas Cypriots, who have the support of a powerful Greek lobby in the United States, have been holding regular annual meetings on the island to discuss ways of promoting a peace solution reuniting Cyprus following the 1974 Turkish military intervention, in response to a short lived coup by Greek army officers.

Reunification talks between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities are entering a third year in a few days, without bringing the two sides anywhere close to a solution.

Clinton said the United States remain committed to ending the division of Cyprus but she noted that the Cypriot-led negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations good offices mission is the path to achieving a comprehensive peace.

"I know this is a difficult process because of hard work and even compromise required by both sides," Clinton said in her message.