Cyprus peace deal sets off asparagus fight

Cypriot asparagus harvesters are fuming over a U.N.-brokered peace settlement which has created a buffer zone between the Greek and Turkish sides of the island. The U.N. is preventing the harvesters from entering the zone to pick up wild asparagus as they have done for years:

"This is unacceptable behaviour and I have demanded that action is taken," said Nicos Kotziambashis, leader of the Greek Cypriot village of Mammari which has been particularly hit by the U.N. ban. "The situation is explosive."

"It is not something we particularly like to do but unfortunately if the asparagus is found in the buffer zone the peacekeepers have to do their job, which is to regulate access to that part of the territory," a U.N. spokesman told Reuters.

The story reminds me a bit of a funny anecdote from my colleague Tom Ricks' excellent new book The Gamble, which I am working my way through right now: An American officer asks an Iraqi sheikh why he keeps smuggling sheep into Iraq from Syria. The sheikh replies, "Why did they put the Syrian border in the middle of my sheep?"

Hat tip: Sara Lipka

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