CYPRUS:Under the chill gaze of a rank of cameras, workmen yesterday began dismantling a blue footbridge erected by the Turkish army at the northern edge of the UN buffer zone bisecting the walled city of Nicosia.
The purpose of the bridge was to enable Turkish soldiers to continue patrolling a narrow security strip which runs parallel to the buffer zone, while giving pedestrians from both sides access to a new crossing point at the end of Ledra Street, the main commercial thoroughfare in the southern sector of the old city.
The Cyprus government argues that the bridge must come down, the area must be demilitarised and symbols of sovereignty - border controls and flags - must be barred from the crossing.
The UN supports demilitarisation because bored young soldiers from two hostile sides would no longer be in close proximity to one another.
The dispute over the bridge has delayed for a year the inauguration of this crossing between the two halves of the city, the world's last divided capital.
Since 2003, five other crossings have opened for traffic between the internationally recognised republic in the south and the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north, occupied by Turkey in 1974.
The breakthrough over the bridge came last weekend during a meeting in Ankara between Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat and Turkey's foreign minister, Abdullah Gul, and chief of staff, Yasar Buyukkanit.
Mr Talat had reportedly threatened to resign if the army refused to dismantle the bridge.
Although the bridge is coming down, it remains to be seen whether the Turkish side will agree to the Cyprus government's other two conditions.
Mr Talat has told the Turkish military he will not agree to demilitarisation.
He also said: "Our flags and symbols are our property and the Greek Cypriots have no right to comment on them.
"If we put police and customs boxes in our area, that's our business."
If, in spite of these differences, the sides reach agreement, the Cyprus government says it will demolish the wall it built at the end of Ledra Street within 24 hours.
It will take at least six weeks for the UN to check for unexploded ordnance, stabilise abandoned buildings and prepare a walkway, before giving a green light for the opening of the crossing.