A senior United Nations official in Cyprus has urged secrecy over the contents of the ongoing settlement talks aimed at reuniting the divided Mediterranean island.

"I have once again underlined that leaks are of no use at all, and that they are wrong and against the very soul of the negotiations," Lisa Buttenheim, UN special representative, told reporters Friday after hosting a meeting between Turkish Cypriot President Dervis Eroglu and the Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias.

News reports have appeared in the Greek Cypriot media outlets over the contents of a previous meeting last Monday between Eroglu and Christofias, drawing criticism from the Turkish Cypriot president who urged the Greek Cypriot side "to follow the principle of secrecy" in their talks as they pledged to the UN secretary-general in a Geneva summit earlier in July.

Since 2008, Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot leaders have been conducting talks on a solution to the Cyprus problem.

Eroglu and Christofias agreed in their Geneva meeting to hold an intensified round of talks in a bid to end the 37-year division of the island.

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