Papadopoulos Takes Office as Cyprus' New President

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, March 01, 2003

Papadopoulos Takes Office as Cyprus' New President

Tassos Papadopoulos assumed his duties as Cyprus' fifth president at a ceremony held late Friday atthe presidential palace.

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Tassos Papadopoulos assumed his duties as Cyprus' fifth president at a ceremony held late Friday atthe presidential palace.

After 10 years in power, Glafcos Clerides handed over the presidency to Papadopoulos, who gave his affirmation before the plenary session of the 56-member House of Representative.

Speaking before the House, Papadopoulos promised he was ready totackle the challenge of achieving reunification of Cyprus, which has been divided into the Greek Cypriot community in the south and the Turkish Cypriot north since 1974.

He said the final solution of the Cyprus problem would be a compromise, viable and lasting.

"I will work and strive for a workable and viable solution," he said, adding that "our aim is the solution of the Cyprus problem and the accession of a reunited Cyprus" to the European Union (EU).

On April 16, Cyprus is due to sign the Accession Treaty with theEU, after being invited to join the bloc at the EU summit in Copenhagen last December.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan ended Friday a three-day workingvisit to the island, after presenting the two sides with a third peace plan following the original one on Nov. 11, 2002 and a revised one a month later.

Annan's peace plan called for holding separate referendum on each side in order to achieve reunification of the Island.

Anna has invited leaders from the both side to the Hague to givehim a "yes or no" answer. The UN chief warned that time is running out for the two sides to achieve final peace.

Papadopoulos won the elections on Feb. 16 this year to become the fifth president of the country since its independence from British colonial rule in 1960.

He is expected to announce his 11-member Council of Ministers Saturday.

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