Athens/Nicosia - Former US President Jimmy Carter, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Algerian Foreign Minister Lakhdar Brahimi crossed the border into Nicosia's "no man's land" Thursday in a show of support for peace talks to reunify the divided island of Cyprus. Encircled by dozens of bodyguards, journalists and photographers the three statesmen crossed over the UN-controlled buffer zone at Ledra Street on foot into the northern part of Cyprus to meet with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat.
"This is fantastic," said a smiling Desmond Tutu, adding "The Berlin Wall has fallen - this proves that all barriers are intended to come down."
Carter, Tutu and Brahimi arrived on Cyprus late Wednesday as part of a meeting of the organization The Elders, a group of 12 Nobel laureates and human activists who try to help resolve global crisis.
The trio are holding separate talks on Thursday with Greek Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias and Talat, as well as with United Nations envoy Alexander Downer.
The move to open up the symbolic crossing over the United Nations- controlled buffer zone was agreed upon at a landmark meeting in March between newly-elected-Christofias and Talat.
Ledra Street had been barricaded from 1964 when British peacekeepers decided to divide the street between Nicosia's Greek and Turkish communities as a result of inter-communal fighting.
The entire island has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded the northern third of the island in response to a Athens-led coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece.
While Ledra Street operates like any other crossing requiring a passport or ID for pedestrians to pass through from one side to the other, its reopening signals a climate of trust in efforts to solve the long-running Cyprus problem after years of stalemate.
A UN peace plan to reunite the island in 2004 failed after it was largely rejected by Greek Cypriots in a referendum, although the Turkish Cypriots voted overwhelmingly in favour.
"We want to tell the people here that nowhere in the world is there an intractable problem," Tutu was quoted in the Cypriot press, speaking before students gathered inside the UN-controlled buffer zone dividing the island.
"I come from South Africa where some thought its problems could only be solved through violence. It was not, and now South Africa is a democracy," said the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
The former US president said that the Elders visited the island to offer support to the cause of peace.
"The overwhelming sense that all of us have is that this is a decision that must be made by the Cypriot people and no one from outside."
Christofias and Talat officially launched a new round of peace talks September 3 and will meet again Friday for the fourth time. So far, negotiations have provided few results.
"We pray and hope and trust the two leaders will be successful," said Carter, adding that "it is very important for the people living here to know that the rest of the world is pulling for you."
