The Socialist junior partners in the Cypriot coalition government have pulled out in protest at plans to cancel the deployment of Russian-made anti-aircraft missiles on the island.

The leader of the Socialist EDEK party, Vassos Lyssarides, said the decision to quit was a matter of principle.

The government now faces a reshuffle after two ministers from EDEK -- the defence minister Yiannakis Omirou and the Education Minister, Lycourgos Kappas -- announced they will hand in their resignations on Monday.

The decision by the Cypriot president, Glafcos Clerides, to scrap deployment of the missiles -- which Turkey had threatened to destroy -- was welcomed abroad, but has provoked a storm of protest at home where opposition parties called it a national defeat.Cyprus intends to negotiate with Athens on deploying the missiles on the Greek island of Crete.