Athens/Nicosia - Failure to come up with a comprehensive settlement to end the division of Cyprus by the spring will mean an indefinite partition of the eastern Mediterranean island, the International Crisis Group warned in a report published on Wednesday.

Greek and Turkish Cypriots launched renewed peace talks last September, but the pace has been slow after nearly 40 meetings at an abandoned airport inside the UN-controlled buffer zone.

Cyprus has been divided since a Turkish invasion in 1974, sparked by a brief Greek-inspired coup.

Greek Cypriots have lived in the south of Cyprus and Turkish Cypriots in the north, split by a United Nations-supervised buffer zone which runs through the heart of the island's capital.

According to the report by Brussels-based ICG, a window of opportunity for a bi-communal, bizonal settlement will close by April 2010, the date of the next Turkish Cypriot elections, when the pro- settlement leader risks losing his office to a more hardline candidate.

The ICG says that it would be difficult to revive talks as the United Nations and other leaders will be reluctant to be involved in further failures, and young people on both sides of the border grow indifferent to the issue.

A permanent split would cause new frictions in the eastern Mediterranean and both communities on the island and Turkey will experiences slower economic progress, greater defence spending and reduced international credibility, the report argues.

The 35-year conflict continues to pose a headache for diplomats. In 2004, Greek Cypriots rejected a UN settlement blueprint which would have turned Cyprus into a loose federation a week before the island joined the EU as a divided state.

Both ethnic communities agree, on paper, to reunite the island's two halves in the latest round of UN-led peace talks, but disagree on how it will work. Other disputes include the complex issue of property lost during the invasion.

Cypriot leaders have agreed to put any peace deal to a simultaneous referendum in both communities.

EU officials have said that progress in the Cyprus reunification talks will be essential to move Turkey's slow-moving EU accession process forward.

Ankara's EU membership talks, which began in October 2005, have been partially frozen because of the situation on the island.

Turkey does not recognise the Greek Cypriot government and supports the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state in northern Cyprus where it has stationed more than 40,000 troops.

Greek Cypriots say they will not agree to Turkey joining the bloc as long as the island is partitioned. Ankara's progress in membership talks will be assessed later this year.

ICG urges Turkey to launch a dialogue with the Greek Cypriots "through confidence-building statements and the Greek Cypriots should reciprocate."

"Greek officials should also arrange trust-creating meetings that bring them together with officials with Turkey and the Republic of Cyprus, a process in which both Greek and Turkish Cypriots representatives must also be included."(dpa)