NICOSIA : Presidential Choice

Cypriot President George Vassiliou faces stiff competition for reelection today, as nearly 400,000 ethnic Greek Cypriot voters on this divided Mediterranean island decide which of five presidential candidates will lead the region’s smallest democracy for the next five years.

Predictably, the major issue is which of the three leading candidates can best out-finesse a shared opponent--Turkey. U.N.-sponsored talks aimed at erasing the “green line” that divides the island into a Turkish northern third and a Greek south were suspended until after the vote. Although opinion polls show the incumbent in the lead, most Cypriots expect a runoff.