UN chief Kofi Annan opened a one-day meeting with the rival Cypriot leaders warning that they faced one final chance to end their island's division before it joins the European Union.Annan summoned Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish-Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash to the Dutch capital in a bid to persuade them to put a UN peace plan to their voters in a referendum on March 30.

Both sides have been reluctant to commit to the plan. Denktash has stood firm in opposition despite mass protests in favour of the Annan settlement by thousands of Turkish Cypriots.

Annan warned that the plan, which foresees a Swiss-style confederation for Cyprus, was the final chance for a settlement before the internationally recognised Greek Cypriot government signs its EU treaty on April 16.

"At a time of tension and discord in the world, the Christian Greek Cypriots and the Muslim Turkish Cypriots have a rendezvous with history -- a chance for Cyprus to be transformed from a seemingly insoluble international problem to a beacon of international hope," Annan wrote in the International Herald Tribune.

"Decision time has arrived," he said. "Opportunity beckons. It should not be missed."

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded the northern third of the island in response to a coup in Nicosia aimed at uniting Cyprus with Greece.

The UN plan, which has undergone three revisions in a bid to placate the opposing sides, foresees separate administrations handling domestic affairs and a central government to speak for Cyprus internationally.

Most importantly, the federal authorities would represent Cyprus at the EU, which the island is due to join in May 2004 along with nine other countries.

The EU says it would revise the accession treaty to welcome a reunited Cyprus into the fold, and would pump millions of euros into developing the impoverished Turkish zone of Cyprus.

But the bloc has made clear that the Turkish-Cypriots will be frozen out in the absence of an agreement.

That could prove embarrassing for Turkey, which is battling to start talks on its own bid to join the EU. Without a Cyprus deal, Turkey would find itself with troops stationed on EU territory and refusing to recognise an EU member.

But the man expected to take over soon as Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, cast new doubt on the likelihood of success in The Hague after previously backing Annan's peace bid.

He accused the UN chief of failing to keep a promise made during a visit to Ankara last month to address Turkish-Cypriot concerns in his latest revisions to the plan.

"What Annan told us turned out not to be (in the plan). Promises were not kept," Erdogan told Monday's edition of the liberal Turkish daily Radikal.

"Accepting the plan as it is does not seem possible," he said, after earlier criticising the veteran Denktash for impeding the peace process on the Mediterranean island.

The run-up to the meeting has also been complicated by the election of Papadopoulos -- criticised as a hardliner -- in place of Glafcos Clerides, who held power for a decade.

Along with the two leaders, the meeting is being attended by senior foreign ministry aides from Cyprus's three "guarantor" powers -- Britain, Greece and Turkey.

Annan said his plan respected the rights of Greek Cypriots forced from their homes by Turkey's 1974 invasion, and would also guarantee Turkish Cypriots equal status in a new Cyprus.

"The real choice is between my plan and no solution at all. And I believe the plan is a fair and honourable compromise bringing real benefits to each side," he said.

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Last-ditch Cyprus meeting opens in The Hague