The Cypriot Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) said on Wednesday that it has finalized a project proposal on exhumation and identification of missing persons in war.

"Following rigorous planning, the CMP has finalized its project proposal for the Exhumation, Identification and Return of Remains of Missing Persons in Cyprus," said a statement issued by the CMP.

The committee said that the exhumation of the remains of 10 individuals took place separately in the Mesaoria area, in the coastal city of Famagusta in northern Cyprus, and in southeastern areas of Nicosia, capital of the Republic of Cyprus.

The remains will be transferred to the CMP's anthropological laboratory located within the United Nations buffer zone once the project is launched, said the committee.

The CMP consists of three members, one from the Republic of Cyprus, one from the Turkish Cypriot north and a third from the UN.

It was founded 24 years ago to ascertain the fate of the missing Cypriots during the 1963-1964 inter-communal fighting and a war in 1974.

The Greek Cypriots said that some 1,500 people were still missing while the Turkish Cypriots said some 500 were missing.

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.

Source: Xinhua