BRITAIN said yesterday that it was prepared to give up nearly half the territory covered by its two sovereign military bases in Cyprus to help to secure a peace deal between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot parts of the island.

The United Nations is pushing the two sides to accept a comprehensive settlement by the end of the month so that a reunited island can enter the European Union next year.

Kofi Annan, the Secretary- General of the UN, arrives in Cyprus tomorrow and is expected to present a revised draft settlement to both sides. The February 28 deadline could be extended by a week, he said yesterday.

British officials were quick to say that any handover would not reduce the operational effectiveness of the bases, which are playing a critical role as staging posts in the military build-up in the Gulf.

“There could be trimming of bits we don’t really need or can redeploy from, and it won’t make any difference to staffing levels,” an official in London said.

If territory is relinquished, 90 per cent of it would go to the Greek Cypriots and the remainder to the Turkish Cypriots. “Given there is going to be some nip and tuck on the territory issue, we could help balance the percentages,” the official said. “It all depends on whether Annan tables his revised plan and whether it works.”

The British offer will come as a surprise to the negotiators. Although any handover is conditional on a settlement, Britain has now openly acknowledged that militarily it does not need all its valuable land on the island. That could leave London open to pressure to reduce the size of its colonial footprint, even if there is no peace deal.

One of the main points of dispute is how much territory the Turkish Cypriots will hand back to the Greek Cypriots. Rauf Denktas, the veteran Turkish Cypriot leader, has objected bitterly to UN proposals that would reduce the territory under his people’s control from 37 per cent of the island to 28.5 per cent.

The bases cover a total of 98 square miles (158 sq km), or 3 per cent of Cypriot territory. Britain is willing to give up 45 square miles (72 sq km). Most of the territory under discussion is in the eastern sovereign base at Dhekelia, although the important position at Ayios Nikolaos, home to a tri-Service signals unit, would be retained. The western sovereign base area of Akrotiri, the biggest RAF facility outside Britain and nicknamed the “kebab posting” by airmen, is regarded as more useful.

The sovereign bases were retained by Britain when Cyprus won independence in 1960 and have helped to protect Britain’s oil interests in the Middle East, in part replacing the Suez Canal foothold that was removed by Nasser.

Britain still regards its Cyprus bases as vital strategic assets, despite the end of the Cold War. The Vulcan nuclear bombers stationed on the island within striking distance of the former Soviet Union have long gone, and the number of British Forces has shrunk over the past three decades, from 6,000 in 1970 to 3,500 today.

The bases bristle with antennae, sucking intelligence about the region from the ether for GCHQ. Their value as staging and supply posts at the volatile edge of the world’s richest oil region was reinforced during the Gulf War, when 10,000 sorties were flown. The last time they were used for direct offensive action was during the Suez crisis in 1956.

Explore World News

• World Agenda

• Iraq News

• US & Americas News

• Europe News

• Middle East News

• Afghanistan News

• Asia News

• Africa News

• Ireland News

Times Recommends

• Times Charity Appeal: SolarAid
• Is it Black Monday all over again for Dubai?
• Behind the scenes at the biggest deal