NICOSIA, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Prospects for a comprehensive settlement of Cyprus problem are better now than they have been for a long time, said top UN envoy on Monday.

    Taye-Brook Zerihoun, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Cyprus, made the remarks on a ceremony commemorating the International Day of Peace.

    He referred to the full-fledged negotiations between the leaders of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities, which had started earlier this month in a bid to reunite the eastern Mediterranean island divided since 1974.

    A series of trust-building measures, Zerihoun added, "will encourage Cypriots from both sides of the political divide to come together in ever greater numbers as they rebuild a common home in peace and prosperity."

    Amid the tragic reality in many other places, the UN envoy said, "there are reasons for hope, and perhaps nowhere more so than herein Cyprus."

    Zerihoun told a gathering of World War Two veterans from both communities that the lighting of the peace vigil candle would symbolize the "rekindling of our commitment to lasting peace in Cyprus, a reunited Cyprus."