Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 98-03-20

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

Friday, March 20, 1998

CONTENTS

[01] Priest says sorry to relatives of the missing

[02] 'More T-80U tanks to be bought'

[03] Denktash insists on total equality

[04] Omirou lashes out western double standards

[05] Time running out to pass patent law

[06] Government to upgrade cancer transplant facility

[07] Tourist found dead in swimming pool

[08] Public is not paying for electricity to the north

[09] Man held after opium found

[10] Roadworks reveal Roman tomb

[01] Priest says sorry to relatives of the missing

A SENIOR police officer is to travel to Canada to interview the Greek Cypriot who claims he has information that 14 people missing since the 1974 invasion of Cyprus are still alive.

Father Christoforos, the priest at the centre of the row, yesterday apologised to the relatives of the missing for repeating the information.

A police announcement said Michael Kyprianou, whose claims have caused a sensation, will be questioned about the information he claims he has obtained.

Attorney-general Alecos Markides said the possibility of legal action is being examined, but clarified that no such procedure has been initiated.

He said there was a possibility such a case could be pursued, with charges of spreading false and damaging rumours, but added that this type of case is hard to prove.

Kyprianou on Tuesday claimed that 14 of the 1,619 people listed as missing persons are alive and living in a country near Cyprus. Israel was mentioned in later reports, but the government categorically rejected this yesterday.

As far as the government is concerned the claims are false and the case is closed.

Father Christoforos, President of the National Committee of Struggle for the Missing, expressed similar sentiments yesterday and apologised to the relatives he had upset.

"I never wanted to harm the issue of the missing," he said. "I thought I was doing some good by saying not only dead people that existed but living ones as well. I said only what Kyprianou told me."

The priest said it was the first time in 24 years that he had let slip sensitive information.

"I never said anything and then this bad time came when without realising it I said it," he said. "I believe there was no intention on my part to do harm to the missing issue. After all, my son is missing - I am the father of a missing person. I hurt like the others are hurting. I didn't do it to harm the issue or anything."

Government Spokesman Christos Stylianides yesterday repeated the government's view that the case of the 14 is now closed.

He also categorically denied any involvement by Israel, stressing that relations between the two countries are good.

"Because the name of the state of Israel was mentioned I considered it my obligation to say that for the government of Cyprus there is no issue involved since the allegations were not serious or true," Stylianides said.

[02] 'More T-80U tanks to be bought'

Last month the government categorically denied reports from a Russian news agency that Cyprus was to buy T-80Us from a factory in the Siberian city of Omsk.

But Antonis Karas, a deputy for governing Disy, said yesterday there was provision in the 1998 defence budget for the purchase of T-80U tanks. The National Guard already has a number of T-80Us, bought in 1995, in its arsenal.

Karas was talking after a committee meeting to review the defence budget. He did not say how many tanks would be bought, but the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation and private television channels reported that 40 T-80Us had been ordered at a cost of £85 million.

[03] Denktash insists on total equality

ANY FURTHER talks must take place on the basis of common ground between two equal states, Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash repeated yesterday.

"We want the UN Secretary-general to continue with his mission. But we want the ground for a settlement to be prepared very well on equality," Denktash told reporters in occupied Nicosia before meeting visiting UN envoy Diego Cordovez.

"Equality is... to accept and acknowledge that we exist on a par with the Greek Cypriot side," he added.

Asked if he would consider taking part in any further rounds of talks, Denktash did not reject the idea, but said he would consider any offer in the context in which it was made.

Denktash has maintained since the EU's decision to open accession talks with Cyprus in December that the intercommunal talks are "dead". Since then, he has insisted on recognition of his self-declared 'state' as a precondition for the resumption of dialogue.

For his part, Cordovez said he understood Denktash's position

and would be preparing a paper on the situation for UN General Secretary Kofi Annan.

It was, he said, his mission to seek out common ground between the two sides and to this end he would meet Denktash again today after seeing President Glafcos Clerides, who returned yesterday from a visit to Israel.

In statements made earlier after a morning briefing of representatives in Cyprus of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Cordovez reiterated earlier statements that

responsibility for thrashing out a solution to the Cyprus fell firmly on the shoulders of the leaders of the two communities.

He said the two sides were always waiting for the situation to be defined for them, when they were the ones who had to do this themselves.

Cordovez briefed the representatives on the contents of a letter he would deliver to Denktash and discussed the purpose of his visit to the island.

Cordovez also suggested there could be a change in the framework for dialogue between the two sides as the idea for a federal solution had been laid out in the 1970s, and could therefore now be altered, should this be agreed by the two sides.

Cordovez also said that he would decide after his talks here whether or not to change his mandate on continuing the intercommunal dialogue for a settlement.

The task of finding a Cyprus solution was, he added, "now more difficult", although he refrained from going into any detail.

[04] Omirou lashes out western double standards

Speaking at Larnaca airport before flying to Greece for a meeting with his Greek counterpart Akis Tzohatzopoulos, Omirou said the international community should instead address itself to the Turkish side, "whose expansionist designs destabilise the region."

He said that while Cyprus "acknowledges the right of the US and Europe to be interested in creating and maintaining peace" in the region, Cyprus could not accept "a selective sensibility" by which Turkey's occupation of the island was ignored.

Omirou also told reporters that the Paphos airbase was completed, though certain projects still needed finishing off. Once this had been done, he added, the base would be "perfect in every respect".

The defence minister said his talks with Tzohatzopoulos would focus on the furthering of the joint defence pact and on the modernisation of the National Guard, in view in particular of a recent reinforcement of Turkish occupation troops in the north.

Special emphasis would be placed on devising ways in which the two countries could handle possible crisis situations, he added.

The objective of this, Omirou said, was achieving "peace in Cyprus... based on respect of international law and order."

In view of the imminent European Union accession talks, Omirou said Cyprus was called upon to play "a new historic role" and the defence ministry would "serve this goal with determination and a sense of national and political responsibility."

[05] Time running out to pass patent law

OPPOSITION from the local drugs industry is prompting a review of EU-based draft legislation on patents.

Faced with an April 4 deadline looming, new Commerce and Industry Minister Nicos Rolandis is referring the contentious issue to the cabinet for a final decision next week.

But Attorney-general Alecos Markides yesterday warned that the EU considered patent protection second in importance only to the issue of Turkish Cypriot participation in accession talks. And opposition deputies said the government had to make up its mind and stop trying to pass the buck.

Local drug manufacturers say the draft bill as submitted would ruin them. Importers counter that Cyprus has to decide whether it means business when it says it wants to harmonise with Europe.

The complex issue has been stalled for years. Recent ratification of World Trade Organisation (WTO) conventions now obliges Cyprus to enact its legislation by April 4.

Yesterday's tempestuous meeting of the House Commerce Committee showed disagreement continued to centre on two key provisions: a ban on any attempt to prepare to market generic drugs until the 20-year patent had expired and a provision for supplementary protection certificates for another five years.

Supporters of the bill say both provisions are in line with the requirements of the EU and the WTO, and will ensure protection and encourage research. Opponents say other countries, such as the US, have more liberal regimes.

Andreas Pittas and Antonis Pierides, respectively chairman and director of OEV (the Employers and Industrialists Federation) said aspects of the draft bill were unacceptable. They said the drug industry was the only manufacturing branch doing well in Cyprus, with exports now up to £20 million. "If the bill is passed as it stands, then the local industry will not exist by the time Cyprus joins the EU," Pittas said.

Pierides said the EU was pressuring Cyprus on patents because it was under pressure from multinationals.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry said it backed the bill, as vetted by the Attorney-general to meet key requirements &#151; respect for the WTO and the EU, and protection of the interests of the local pharmaceutical industry, as long as this did not conflict with international law.

"Thank you very much," retorted Pittas.

Chemical and drug manufacturers said there should be provision to allow steps towards marketing before the patent expired, something importers said would only "take the clock back" since this was now prohibited under British law in force in Cyprus.

Achilleas Demetriades, legal counsel for the drug importers' association, said the government had already promised the EU it would enact the law. The EU has specifically stated that marketing authorisations are not permitted before the expiration of the patent. If Cyprus wanted to move towards Europe, the road it should take was clear, he said.

The Health Ministry's Eftychios KKolos indicated his ministry wanted a more flexible regime, prompting opposition deputies to protest they were fed up with the government speaking with two voices.

Rolandis replied that he, and only he, would speak for the government on this issue. But he said that since he was newly appointed, he would see OEV and then take the issue to the Council of Ministers early next week for a final agreement.

[06] Government to upgrade cancer transplant facility

THE GOVERNMENT announced yesterday that the current bone marrow transplant (BMT) programme would soon be upgraded, following on from its current success in offering treatment to cancer patients.

The statement came during a meeting of the House Health Committee, which was briefed on developments in the fledgling BMT programme in operation at the Nicosia General hospital since 1996.

Health Ministry director-general Achilleas Patsinakos told the committee the scheme had successfully offered BMT treatment to seven patients since 1996, and there was now a five-year plan to upgrade the programme.

The next stage will involve a wider range of donors than used so far, Patsinakos said, whereby bone marrow from both family and non-family members would be used in transplants for cancer patients.

"Significant progress achieved by the BMT team includes the selection and cryo-storage... of primary cells from the umbilical cord of new-borns... (to be used in) transplants," he added.

Asked why two out of the seven BMT patients had since died, Dr. Loizos Loizou, Head of the Makarios III Hospital Child Cancer and Haematology department, admitted that complete success could never be guaranteed.

"At the time, the programme had achieved much," he said. "The patients (who died) sadly suffered a relapse of their cancer."

A spokesman for the Cyprus University medical faculty also brought to the committee's attention the fact that Cypriot cancer patients were still going abroad for BMT treatment.

"Could it be because doctors in the private sector... (are recommending overseas treatment since) they do not trust their colleagues (in the public sector)?" she queried.

In reply, oncologist Dr. Adamos Adamou said Cypriots were still traditionally wary of receiving treatment in Cyprus and stressed BMT treatment would be much improved when a planned Cancer Centre began parallel operation.

BMT programme Head, Dr. Nikanthros Papaminas said 20 to 25 people had gone abroad for treatment, but stressed the BMT scheme was still having to operate within restricted conditions.

"Each BMT patient needs four to five months of treatment and during that period will be staying in the same bed," said Papaminas, with reference to the recent space problem forcing hospitals to put beds in corridors for surplus patients.

"But we aim to try and treat all children in Cyprus," he added.

On a more positive note, Loizou said another seven patients were awaiting BMT treatment in Cyprus and that new equipment had been bought to upgrade the scheme's facilities.

"The children's charity Elpida generously donated £70,000 for the purchase of new equipment" said Loizou, adding "already £40,000 worth of such equipment has arrived".

The Health committee was also briefed on the development of a new Cancer Centre, which was being funded by the Bank of Cyprus.

The Centre's general treasurer, Yiannis Kypris, said construction of the building was finished and necessary equipment would be installed over the next two months.

"By the end of June, we expect the Centre to start functioning in stages, (allowing time) for the necessary training of medical personnel," said Kypris.

A number of potential problems were then discussed, namely the need to protect the public sector benefits of doctors who would be called on to man the privately funded Centre.

It was agreed a formula would have to be devised offering the doctors equivalent perks to those enjoyed in the civil service.

[07] Tourist found dead in swimming pool

Hotel staff had earlier reported Huns Willy Rudof missing since Wednesday evening.

An examination of the body by state pathologist Panicos Stavrianos revealed no sign of external injury and police ruled out foul play. Rudof had a history of heart problems and also suffered from diabetes and dizzy spells, police said.

The incident is being investigated.

[08] Public is not paying for electricity to the north

Hitting back at claims that a 15 per cent surcharge on bills paid for electricity sent to the north, an EAC press release said electricity was now 20 per cent cheaper than it had been 15 years ago. It added that the surcharge went on improvements to services and projects like the building of new power stations.

Industrial users did not have to pay the surcharge, and those who were in the tourist industry paid only 10 per cent, the authority added.

It added that charges were linked to power usage by a 1977 agreement superseding the previous system, in place since the authority's inception in 1952, which provided for regular fixed increases in electricity pricing.

[09] Man held after opium found

Mohammad Hassan Sabri, 45, was found to have the drugs in his possession when he arrived at Larnaca airport from Tehran on Wednesday morning.

He told police he had only seven grams, and that these were for personal use, claiming he had been told by a doctor to take one gram a day to treat a medical condition.

As he planned to be in Cyprus for seven days, he claimed, he had brought seven grams of the substance with him.

[10] Roadworks reveal Roman tomb

The tomb, near Panayiotis, Yermasoyia, was stumbled upon by a digger that was marking out plots of land near the new by-pass construction site.

The tomb had previously been raided, and all that was left inside was two oil lamps.

Yermasoyia Mayor Panicos Louroutsianis said the tomb was important as it was the first found in the area

to have man-made walls rather than to be carved out of the ground.

He said he would now suggest to the council that the tomb be preserved.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1998

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