Athens/Nicosia - The two leaders of the ethnically divided island of Cyprus will decide on July 25 whether to proceed to direct reunification talks, Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias said Tuesday.

Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat have held several meetings to discuss progress made by working and technical groups striving to set the groundwork for the start of peace talks to end the decades-old division of the island.

The leaders have not set an exact date for the start of the talks but diplomatic officials expect it to take place sometime in the autumn.

"At the next meeting with Mr Talat on July 25 and after a final review of results and work of preparatory teams we will decide whether to move to direct talks," Christofias told a news conference to mark 120 days since his election as president in February.

A panel of six working groups and seven technical committees from both sides of the ethnic divide have been meeting on a regular basis since mid-April in an attempt to prepare for the talks.

The team of experts are working on a range of issues ranging from environmental protection, health, security, power-sharing, culture, ways of linking the island's two economies as well as property and territory disputes.

With newly-elected Christofias in office, expectations are running high for a breakthrough in peace efforts to reunite the island which has been divided since 1974 after Turkey invaded the northern third in response to an Athens-led coup to reunite the island with Greece.

UN attempts to reunify the island have repeatedly stalled.

The latest was in 2004 when former president Tassos Papadopoulos led the Greek Cypriot rejection of a UN reunification plan in a referendum - although Turkish Cypriots overwhelmingly voted in favour.

Only the southern part of Cyprus is a member of the European Union, while the Turkish Cypriots have repeatedly called on the bloc to end an economic embargo on the northern part of the island, which is only recognized internationally by Turkey.

The two divided sides of Cyprus have agreed in principle to rejoin the island as a bizonal federation, but until now have not been able to agree on a procedure. (dpa)