Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders trying to unite Cyprus ended opening talks yesterday marred by a bomb outside the home of the pro-reunification Prime Minister of the island?s Turkish enclave. The percussion grenade or ?sound bomb? outside Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat?s home just hours before he took part in the talks shattered windows and damaged his front door but nobody was hurt.

UN officials in charge of the long-dormant talks said the blast had no effect on two hours of discussions that aim to unite the Greek and Turkish communities before the island joins the European Union on May 1.

?It was a very constructive session with ample goodwill and a business like spirit from the two sides,? said UN envoy Alvaro de Soto, a Peruvian who brokered peace accords which ended civil strife in El Salvador.

Greek Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash met at an abandoned airport compound used by UN peacekeepers for what has been billed as the best chance to end three decades of bitter division.

De Soto said the two leaders would meet daily for the foreseeable future. The UN timetable calls for the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders to negotiate until March 22, when Greece and Turkey are likely to join in until March 29. The final plan would go to referendums in both parts of Cyprus on April 21.

Failure to reach a deal will mean only the Greek Cypriot south joins the EU, and Turkey knows its efforts to start its own membership talks could hinge on the Cyprus peace process. In a sign of the importance of the talks for the European Union, EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen met Denktash and Papadopoulos at the end of their session.

?We want a united Cyprus to join the EU and what we want to do is to help the Turkish Cypriots start a catch up process,? Verheugen told reporters. The wealthier Greek Cypriots, who enjoy international recognition, make up 80 percent of the population of less than one million and control about 60 percent of the territory.

Sources close to the talks said that in the first meeting both leaders laid out changes they wanted to a UN blueprint for reunification in a loose power-sharing federation. The issues involved territory trade-offs, return of refugees and a gradual scaling down of Greek and Turkish forces on the heavily militarised Mediterranean island. The division of Cyprus dates back to a Turkish invasion of the north of the island in 1974, sparked by a Greek Cypriot coup backed by the military junta then ruling Greece.

Talat, who became prime minister after December?s general election in the tiny enclave, backs Cyprus reunification. He said the blast was an attempt to intimidate his supporters. ?They are trying to obstruct communal peace on Cyprus. They will in no way be successful,? he said.

Michele Kambas