Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 98-12-29

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From: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cynews.com/>

Tuesday, December 29, 1998

CONTENTS

[01] D-day for S-300s with Crete option gaining ground

[02] Missile issue 'the tip of the iceberg'

[03] Journalists' union calls off strike

[04] Church must clear monk by year end or face libel action

[05] Two remanded in hospital after bomb blast

[06] New remand for Chinese murder suspects

[07] Cyprus protests new air violation

[01] D-day for S-300s with Crete option gaining ground

THE government's final decision on whether or not to deploy the controversial S-300 missiles - and where - is expected today.

President Clerides flew to Athens at 4pm yesterday amid rampant speculation that the �200 million Russian-made missile system was headed for storage in Crete - a compromise solution proposed by Athens in the face of mounting international pressure not to deploy them in Cyprus.

"There will be a final decision on the issue (tomorrow)," Government spokesman Christos Stylianides said yesterday.

Clerides is scheduled to discuss the matter with Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis in Athens at 11am today and then return to Cyprus in time for a 5pm extraordinary meeting of the National Council - the second on the missiles in less than a week.

The missiles are due for delivery from Russia by Thursday and are reportedly in a Russian port awaiting shipment.

In statements at Larnaca Airport before his departure, Clerides said he himself would make the final decision on the missiles if the all-party National Council was not unanimous on the issue.

The parties, whose written positions on the S-300s Clerides carried in his briefcase yesterday, are deeply divided on the issue.

The president also said he would not be asking Simitis to carry the can, but was only presenting the Greek Premier with the party positions and consulting with him. "I will not ask of the (Greek) Prime Minister that he makes any statements. My position is that since the position of the Greek government has already been heard, after the Cyprus government, as in the National Council, discusses and reaches a conclusion, if this decision is unanimous it will be respected. If not, the weight of responsibility for taking the decision will be borne by the President," Clerides said.

Clerides gave no indication about what his final decision might be, but failure to deploy the S-300s is likely to spark a government crisis since junior government partners Edek have made it clear they will jump ship if Clerides goes back on his pre-election promise to bring the missiles.

According to Greek papers and many other observers, the missiles going to Crete is a foregone conclusion. "The National Council is split on the issue but I think that after Clerides meets Simitis, the Cretan idea will prevail, " one party leader told Reuters news agency yesterday.

Greek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos made his support for the Cretan option plain yesterday. In an interview published in the Greek newspaper Apogevmatini yesterday, he made it clear Athens believed two Cyprus resolutions passed by the UN Security Council last week meant the pre- conditions set by Nicosia for non-deployment had now been met.

Pangalos said conditions were now "totally different" from those in 1996, when the missiles were ordered, and a re-examination of the issue was called for. The government has set significant progress towards a settlement or a demilitarisation deal as pre-conditions for cancelling deployment of the missiles.

In resolution 1218, approved on December 22, the UN Security Council called on UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan to intensify his efforts towards achieving a settlement and demilitarisation.

"The two Security Council resolutions set clearly for the first time an obligation on the international community to find a solution for the Cyprus problem and to take up responsibility for the issue of security on the island," Pangalos was quoted as saying in Apogevmatini.

Pangalos said the Greek side "must be seen to be doing its bit towards creating the right conditions" in Cyprus.

Last Wednesday, following the UN resolutions and pledges from US President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair to back these up, Cyprus Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides also indicated that pre-conditions for non-deployment were being met.

Speaking yesterday morning, Stylianides said the final decision would be taken jointly by Athens and Nicosia, apparently contradicting Clerides. "Athens and Nicosia are in complete agreement, it will be a joint decision. We may have different arguments but all decisions are taken together (with Greece)," he told his daily press briefing.

But Pangalos appeared keen to wash his country's hands of the decision, stating in Apogevmatini that Clerides would have the final say on the matter.

The missiles were ordered as part of Cyprus' commitment to the Common Defence Dogma military pact it signed with Greece in 1993.

Despite public statements to the contrary, government sources have revealed that Clerides and Simitis disagreed on the missile issue when they met in Athens late last month, with Clerides not favouring storage in Crete and insisting on deployment in Cyprus.

Last week, following another extraordinary National Council meeting on the S-300s - called in the wake of the UN resolutions and the Clinton and Blair pledges - Stylianides said the advisory body would not be meeting again on the matter, as debate had been "exhausted".

Turkey's repeated threats to strike the missiles if they are deployed have prompted the US, EU and the UN to urge Cyprus not to bring the S-300s, fearing a dangerous escalation of tensions. On Christmas Day, Turkey repeated its opposition to the missiles going to Crete, stating that only cancellation of the deal would do. But a report by Reuters news agency said that if the Cretan option was taken, Turkey would be well out the missiles' 150-km range.

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, whose country starts chairing the EU on January 1, on Friday appealed to both sides in Cyprus to disarm.

The National Council had previously decided to postpone delivery of the missiles, originally due in August, till the end of the year.

Tuesday, December 29, 1998

[02] Missile issue 'the tip of the iceberg'

DIKO LEADER and House President Spyros Kyprianou did his utmost to score political points from the S-300 crisis yesterday.

On the eve of what is expected to be decision day for the controversial Russian-made missiles, the former President challenged incumbent Clerides to "take on his responsibilities."

He said Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis - who meets Clerides in Athens to discuss the missiles today - should do the same.

"Both Greek Prime Minister Simitis and President Clerides must stand up to their responsibilities," the opposition party leader told a midday press conference.

"I dare to say this, I am a simple Greek Cypriot who has dedicated his life to Hellenism, all I care about is the future of Greek Hellenism. Why do I say this? Because I believe the missile issue is but the tip of the iceberg."

Speculation was rife yesterday that the government would opt for storing the S-300s in Crete - a solution favoured by Athens in the face of international opposition to deployment.

Kyprianou said if the missiles were not deployed then the Common Defence Dogma military pact with Greece would be dented.

"The military experts said the missiles were necessary for the dogma," he pointed out.

Cyprus and Greece signed the Dogma in 1993, Greece undertaking to come to the island's defence if Turkey attacked.

"Does the dogma still exist?" Kyprianou asked.

He said there was an urgent need to convene a pan-Hellenic council meeting of all parties from Cyprus and Greece to discuss the missile affair.

"There is no need to rush into a decision just because the missiles are waiting delivery in a Russian port," he said.

The S-300s had been due for delivery on Thursday.

Kyprianou was speaking after meeting Clerides to hand him his party's final position on the missile deal in writing - as did other party leaders yesterday.

He did not reveal what the Diko position was, but has already made it clear he does not share the government's positive appraisal of last week's two UN Security Council resolutions on Cyprus. Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides has indicated the resolutions create the pre-conditions set by the government for non-deployment of the missiles - progress towards a settlement or disarmament.

The resolutions called on UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to "intensify" his efforts to achieve a settlement and demilitarisation on the island.

The leader of the newly formed Democratic Renewal party, Alexis Galanos, took the unprecedented step of apologising for his part in the missile saga.

"I believe I too have blame to bear, I often told you that the President was steady, that nothing had changed, and that the President would bring the missiles," Galanos, who is also a Presidential advisor, told reporters - making it clear he did not believe the missiles were to come.

He agreed with Kyprianou that the resolutions did not mean the pre- conditions set for not bringing the missiles had been met. "I am sorry, but the resolutions do not meet even minimum pre-requisites."

Galanos said both Clerides and Simitis should make their position on the S- 300s clear to the people.

He also suggested it was time the whole issue was decided by a plebiscite.

Parties are generally divided on the missile issue.

Nicos Anastassiades, leader of governing Disy, has hinted his party favours non-deployment, hailing the UN resolutions and saying conditions had changed since the missile order was made in 1996.

Main opposition party Akel are giving little away, except to say the decision on the fate of the missiles should be taken jointly with Greece.

Edek leader Vassos Lyssarides remains adamant the missiles should come. "Conditions have not changed and pre-conditions set (by the government) have not been met," he has stated.

Edek has threatened to abandon its government partnership with Disy if the missiles do not come. Clerides won re-election in February on the back of a promise to bring the S-300s.

United Democrat leader and former President George Vassiliou has said Greece's wishes concerning the missiles should be respected. Vassiliou said that since Greece would bear the brunt of the military burden should it come to a war with Turkey, Athens' opinions had to take precedence over Nicosia's.

The minority United Democrats are the only party to have openly backed non- deployment.

Tuesday, December 29, 1998

[03] Journalists' union calls off strike

A STRIKE by print journalists planned for today was called off late last night.

After long negotiations, with Labour Minister Andreas Moushiouttas acting as mediator, the two sides decided on new talks with employers, with Moushiouttas staying on as arbitrator.

According to a statement issued at 10.30pm, the current contract will remain in force until changes are agreed upon by both the Union of Cyprus Journalists and the Association of Publishers of Newspapers and Magazines.

The Cyprus Mail management and union had previously signed an agreement and this newspaper would have operated as normal if the strike had taken place.

Speaking on national radio yesterday, union president Andreas Kannaouros had said that the Newspaper and Magazine Publishers Association had not only refused alterations to the collective agreement proposed by the union, but had put forward further changes which he said were to the disadvantage of journalists.

Describing one of the proposed changes regarding wage scales, Kannaouros said that it would make reaching the top of the pay scale possible only if the journalist began his career at the age of seven.

In a printed statement issued yesterday, the Publishers' Association said that the strike was not within the Code of Industrial Relations and called the union back to the negotiation table. The association added that they had called a meeting for noon yesterday which Kannaouros did not attend.

In a recently released statement, the union said they had first proposed changes to the collective agreement in November 1997. According to the statement, meetings in April this year left the union feeling assured that a new collective agreement would soon be drawn up. They said consequent meetings led negotiations to a dead end.

The statement said that according to the Code of Industrial Relations a strike could be declared within ten days of reaching a deadlock. But the statement said that a strike was not called at that time in the hope of agreements being reached. Further negotiations, the statement concluded, did not lead to a satisfactory result.

Tuesday, December 29, 1998

[04] Church must clear monk by year end or face libel action

A LAWYER for a Mount Athos monk allegedly libelled by Paphos Bishop Chrysostomos yesterday called on the Archbishop and the Holy Synod to clear the monk's name before the year ends, or face a resumed threat of court action.

"Nothing has changed as far as we are concerned, which means the libel action is still open" against Bishop Chrysostomos of Paphos, Nicosia lawyer Christos Clerides told the Cyprus Mail.

"We expect that the Holy Synod will convene again before the end of this year... to discharge any allegations and charges right away," against Elder Iosif of the Greek Monastery of Vatopedhi on Mount Athos, Clerides said.

"If not, we'll look at (what legal action to take)...," he said. "But in the light of the flimsy evidence that has been adduced, I would now expect that the Archbishop would put an end to it."

Clerides, co-counsel with fellow legal powerhouse, Tassos Papadopoulos, had threatened libel action against the Paphos Bishop for alleging Iosif was a "pervert" who gave venereal disease to seven nuns some 17 years ago.

Court action was deferred after Archbishop Chrysostomos, on December 17, dismissed the allegations against Iosif, discrediting them as the slander of a defrocked Greek nun, who had "deceived" the Paphos Bishop into believing ill of Iosif.

At the time, the Paphos Bishop bristled at the notion of being "naive" enough to be deceived by the nun.

The Paphos Bishop has consistently denied he made public the sex charges against Iosif in an attempt to tar with the same brush Iosif's prot�g�, Abbot Athanasios of Machairas, whose candidacy for Bishop of Limassol the Paphos Bishop opposes.

Church watchers suggest Paphos Bishop Chrysostomos fears that if Athanasios becomes Bishop of Limassol, he might eclipse him in the esteem of Archbishop Chrysostomos, both now and in a future battle for his succession.

The Holy Synod last week rejected charges of moral turpitude on the part of Athanasios, but ruled Iosif's past warranted further probing. It appointed two investigators, who spent only two days in their task. Their December 23 report apparently did not give Iosif a totally clean 'bill of sanctity'.

When the Paphos Bishop "was asked to produce all the evidence that he had relating to the matter," apart from the discredited testimony of the defrocked nun, "the only thing that he could come up with was only one testimony of a woman," who has not been identified publicly so far, Clerides said.

"She apparently gave a statement to these two people (Synod investigators)... only that Iosif at some stage put his arms around her - something like that, " Clerides said, adding: "There was no report by them finding anybody guilty. It was only a statement which they will send to the Holy Synod."

"As far as we are concerned, the only evidence out of this story, which the Bishop of Paphos started with a lot of things that have been aired, is that we end up with a statement which basically says nothing," Clerides said.

"My own assessment is, in view of the fact that nothing serious has come up, I don't see any reason why the Archbishop should continue with this saga," Clerides said.

"It's a bit early for us to take a final decision on the matter... to tie ourselves with a certain course of action that we may have to follow," Clerides said. Any further legal action, he said, "depends on what the decision will be" by the Archbishop and the Holy Synod.

Tuesday, December 29, 1998

[05] Two remanded in hospital after bomb blast

TWO LIMASSOL men were remanded in custody for eight days yesterday in connection with a bomb explosion in which they were injured on Sunday, amid speculation that the blast was connected to the recent murder of Hambis Aeroporos.

The Limassol court convened in hospital where both suspects are recovering from injuries sustained in the explosion.

At around 11.25am on Sunday, Charalambos Charalambous, 25, and Antonis Loizou, alias Tsirinas, also 25, drew up in a blue Peugeot 406 at the junction of the old Ypsonas-Kolossi road and the Kolossi Refugee estate road.

Eyewitnesses said Loizou got out of the Peugeot and took a package from an abandoned car nearby. As he returned to the Peugeot and got in, the package, wrapped as a Christmas present, exploded.

Loizou was seriously injured, losing his right eye and right hand. Both were rushed to Limassol district hospital, where Loizou was operated on immediately and remains in a serious condition. Charalambous suffered minor injuries and burns and remains in hospital for observation.

After examining the scene, police explosives expert Antonis Shakalis said the explosion had been extremely powerful, though the package had only contained a small amount of actual explosive.

Police are currently working on two theories surrounding the explosion.

The first is that Charalambous and Loizou were ordered by an unknown third party to collect the bomb and plant it somewhere else.

The second came from Hambis' brother Michalis Aeroporos, coincidentally one of the first people on the scene, who said Charalambous and Loizou spoke to him immediately after the blast, saying they had been telephoned by an unidentified caller who asked them to pick up the package from the car and get rid of it. Apparently, the mystery caller did not tell them what was in the package.

Speaking after the remand yesterday, Justice and Public Order Minister Nicos Koshis said the police were bracing themselves for a new wave of gangland activity.

The bomb had a specific goal, he continued, and the police were going to find out what, or who, it was intended for.

Asked if it was linked to the recent death of Hambis Aeroporos, Koshis said there must be some connection, but that he was wary of giving out too much details as this might harm on-going investigations.

In a first statement to police, Charalambous said Loizou had asked him to accompany him to collect the package and that both had thought it might be a trap. He later added in a second statement that they had realised the package was a bomb and tried to throw it away.

Loizou is not yet well enough to make a full statement, but is reported to have blamed police for the blast, saying the device was planted by officers, who then made the anonymous call to get him and Charalambous to collect it.

Two police officers are among five people being held in connection with the murder of Hambis Aeroporos, amid fears that police 'death squads' are involved in the lethal turf wars between Limassol and Larnaca gangs vying for control of lucrative prostitution and drugs rackets.

Ballistic tests on the automatic weapon that killed Hambis have shown that it also killed his brother Andros earlier this year.

Tuesday, December 29, 1998

[06] New remand for Chinese murder suspects

Bu Hua Cheng, 22, and his alleged accomplice Wang Yang, 21, are accused of strangling fellow student Jiang Ming Xia, and her boyfriend Lou Jian Hui, both 23, at the beginning of the month.

The bodies of the couple were discovered on December 2 at the bottom of a 100-metre-deep ravine on the Troodos mountain range.

Police say Yang has confessed to the murder and named Bu as the mastermind of the attack. The motive for the vicious attack - which took place in the couples' flat in Limassol - was robbery, police say.

Yang was arrested two days after the bodies were found. Bu spent eight days on the run before he was apprehended in the cellar of a private clinic in Limassol by an off-duty army officer.

The alleged attackers and the victims all attended the same Limassol college.

Forensic evidence suggests the two victims were tortured and sexually abused before being strangled to death.

Their bodies were than wrapped in a blanket and taken from Limassol to be dumped in the ravine, police say.

Tuesday, December 29, 1998

[07] Cyprus protests new air violation

"Such actions violate international law," Zakcheos said in his formal complaint to the United Nations against the December 13 overflight of Cyprus's airspace by the Turkish military aircraft.

The type of aircraft was not noted in the announcement.

Turkey, which keeps 40,000 occupation troops in northern Cyprus, has violated Cyprus's airspace hundreds of times with military aircraft overflights since invading the island in 1974.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1998

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