Turkish Cypriots on Friday said they have started to dismantle a controversial footbridge in downtown Nicosia, an obstacle viewed by Greek Cypriots to open anew crossing point in the heart of the divided capital.

Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat announced Thursday to remove the footbridge they constructed last year at the northern end of the UN-controlled buffer zone dividing the commercial Ledra Street in the old town of Nicosia, as a good-will gesture to promote trust and cooperation between the two communities.

However, Xinhua correspondent witnessed that some workers only started to knock down a nearby gate under the bridge for Turkish soldiers to patrol through, the main structure of the footbridge remained untouched.

Huseyin Ozel, head of information office of the Turkish Cypriot authorities, told reporters on the site, "We built it in fifteen days and it will take us some time to remove it."

A municipal official from the Turkish Cypriot-controlled northern Nicosia told Xinhua that the footbridge could not be dismantled immediately, since they have to wait for positive response from the Greek Cypriot side.

Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos has told local media that once the bridge is demolished and Turkish troops removed from the area to allow people to cross, the Greek Cypriots are "ready within 24 hours" to knock down the defense wall on their side.

Later Friday, government spokesman Christodoulos Pashardis announced that they have submitted through the United Nations a proposal for dialogue with the Turkish Cypriot side, aiming at the opening of a crossing point at Ledra Street.

"We will not consent to the opening of Ledra Street if all the obstacles to the smooth crossing are not removed. The dismantling of the bridge is a positive step but it does not remove all obstacles," he stressed.

The spokesman clarified that other steps are also needed such as the de-mining of the area, demilitarization and the removal of military patrols from the vicinity as well as the removal of offensive symbols.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey militarily intervened and occupied the north of Cyprus following a coup by a group of Greek officers. The walled old city of Nicosia has also been separated into two parts by the UN-controlled buffer zone.

Currently there are five crossing points between the areas controlled by the internationally-recognized Republic of Cyprus and the breakaway Turkish Cypriot community in the north.

It will be the sixth access point if the Greek Cypriots knockdown the defense wall and the Turkish Cypriots dismantle the footbridge on the Ledra Street.

(Xinhua News Agency December 30, 2006)