Envoy Quits Bid to Restart Unity Talks

Conceding defeat in his effort to restart talks on reunifying this divided island, U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke said the Turkish Cypriots’ unacceptable demands made a “meaningful exchange” impossible. After three days of shuttling between Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders, Holbrooke said he had given up for now. “I’ll be back any time I can be useful and both sides want me,” he told a news conference before leaving. Lower-level U.S. mediation will resume later this month. Holbrooke said Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash insisted on recognition of his breakaway state as a condition for resuming U.N.-sponsored peace talks.