Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 98-05-06

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

Wednesday, May 6, 1998

CONTENTS

[01] Black day for Cyprus bourse

[02] Denktash says Holbrooke was ill-prepared

[03] UK jails ex-Limassol teacher for child abuse

[04] Peres stresses need for co-existence

[05] EU hits back at Holbrooke criticism

[06] Government plays down talks impasse

[07] Concern over increasing air pollution

[08] Building strike called off

[09] Larnaca port to go on strike

[10] Police deny wrongdoing in naming Aids sufferer

[11] Euro youth programme to highlight bi-communal work

[12] The challenge of the bug

[13] Cuban cigars off the CY menu

[14] 'Drug mastermind' held

[15] Man killed by bulldozer

[01] Black day for Cyprus bourse

A SELLING frenzy caused prices to plummet on the Cyprus stock market yesterday, wiping out tens of millions of pounds from the value of shares in what will be remembered as one of the saddest days of the young bourse.

The official all-share index, recording its biggest one-day loss since January 1997, fell by a staggering 3.59 per cent to close at 89.20. The decline compounded Monday's 1.83 per cent loss.

The sharp fall, which touched the bourse's blue-chips, is likely to erode the positive sentiment which had hitherto dominated the fledgling market and pushed its value up by nearly 20 per cent since the start of 1998.

"It was panic selling, not profit-taking," said Neophytos Neophytou of AAA United Stockbrokers. "It was a major drop."

"It is never easy to call clients to tell them 'you've lost three or four per cent of your investment' or 'you've lost so much money.' I've had a very busy day," lamented Neophytou.

"Everyone seemed willing to sell at any price," commented Hellenic Bank investments analyst Evros Constantinou on yesterday's carnage.

"Not very pretty, is it?" said Christos Spanos, an investment consultant with Sigma-Severis &amp; Athienitis Securities, when asked about yesterday's drop. "This is an overshoot correction, but I cannot tell where things will go if it does not smooth out."

All three - Neophytou, Spanos and Constantinou - said the continuous rise in share prices since the start of the year meant that a correction movement was due. But they agreed that yesterday's fall was way beyond what they had expected.

Other brokers and analysts, however, put part of the blame on Cisco, the island's biggest brokerage that is fully owned by the Bank of Cyprus Group. They said heavy selling by Cisco from last week caused yesterday's drop.

Given its size and prestige, Cisco's buying and selling moves are closely monitored by other brokerages and are often copied. Its trading tactics have also led many in the market to believe that some of its actions are designed to protect the interests of Bank of Cyprus Group, while others seem intended to undermine the rival Popular Bank.

The same is also widely thought of Laiki Investments, the brokerage of the Popular Bank, the island's second largest after the Bank of Cyprus.

"Because we are the biggest brokerage, others do what we do. They copy us, but they do it in a grossly exaggerated fashion," said Stavros Agrotis, a senior Cisco broker, in defence of his brokerage, whose massive selling of shares in Shacolas Group companies last week pushed their prices significantly down.

"I hope today's trend will be reversed tomorrow and investors will return to buy cheaply. But some will be more greedy and wait for the market to be even cheaper," Evagoras said.

Bank of Cyprus shares yesterday shed 13 cents to close at £3.70 on a turnaround of nearly 200,000 shares and 40 per cent of total volume. The share lost 8 cents on Monday.

The Popular Bank's loss was heavier in yesterday's trading, closing 17 cents lower at £3.77, making the stock 31 cents slimmer since the start of the week.

Yesterday's scourge did not spare the smaller Hellenic and Universal banks which lost 9.50 cents and 4.5 cents respectively. It has spread to all seven indices of the market, with the tourism sector the single biggest loser, closing 4.5 per cent down.

[02] Denktash says Holbrooke was ill-prepared

Speaking in an interview with the Reuters news agency yesterday, Denktash said US envoy Richard Holbrooke had come "before the ground was prepared for him and under the impression that everything was moveable and arguable."

And he also blamed the Greek Cypriot side for its "intransigence", saying Holbrooke had not anticipated the strength of its opposition to recognition of his breakaway regime.

The interview echoed earlier statements made after Holbrooke's press conference on Monday. Denktash told Turkish Cypriot reporters then that Holbrooke had been unable to achieve progress because the Greek side had not changed its mentality. No progress could be made until the issue of recognition of the breakaway state was settled, he added.

He nevertheless thanked the envoy for making an "important contribution to peace."

Denktash said Holbrooke had made it clear that Turkish Cypriots would not go wherever the Greek Cypriots and Greece might want to take them.

Holbrooke's contacts, according to Denktash, had given Greek Cypriots a new perspective -- that the United States would not be able to force on the Turkish Cypriots its view, the view of the Greek lobby or of the Greek side.

"This was their expectation and I believe Holbrooke has made an important contribution to peace by not doing this," Denktash was quoted as saying in yesterday's Turkish Cypriot press.

According to Denktash, Holbrooke had proposed that the Turkish Cypriot side sit at the negotiating table as a community and could then achieve a two- state situation once talks began.

"This is a dream. For years we have not been able to get our sovereignty and equality accepted. Neither my assembly nor my people would permit this, " Denktash said.

Denktash has also called for Cyprus-EU accession talks to be suspended before he will return to the negotiating table -- a precondition rejected by Holbrooke.

Yesterday, Denktash reiterated his side's refusal to join the Greek Cypriot delegation at the EU negotiations.

"I am not jumping on this Greek train heading to a station where Greece is waiting with open arms and Turkey is not there as my protector. It is out of the question," Denktash told Reuters.

But the Turkish Cypriot leader hinted that he could make some concessions if the plans to install the S-300 missiles were shelved.

He refused to go into details, but ruled out concessions on issues of substance.

"We are told that if we give up our claim to statehood and support the EU membership bid, then the Greek Cypriots will give up the S-300 missiles. We are not in for such a bargain and we never will be," he said.

And he again warned against deployment of the missiles.

"The missiles are an unlawful criminal act which is not compatible with making peace," he said. "Don't do it. Don't commit this crime in Cyprus, then you will get something."

[03] UK jails ex-Limassol teacher for child abuse

A SCOTTISH teacher extradited from Cyprus was jailed for eight years yesterday for sexually abusing boys in his care.

Norman Bulloch, 46, was a popular member of staff at Foley's Grammar School in Limassol before he was tracked down last October by Cyprus police following a tip-off from British detectives about his sexual offences.

Last month, Bulloch admitted four charges of abusing boys at a Catholic boarding school in Dumfries, lewd behaviour and shameless indecency.

The High Court in Kilmarnock heard that he started abusing a 13-year-old boy when he first got the job in 1973.

The boy - now 38 - was repeatedly abused until he was 16.

Bulloch said his behaviour was the result of being brought up exclusively in the company of men. He attended the same Dumfries school as a child.

Lord Cameron, the presiding judge, told Bulloch: "I don't intend to dwell on the offences as you yourself must recognise the appalling nature and seriousness of them.

"You must understand the sentence I impose is to recognise the appalling breach of trust which was occasioned by these offences and the period of time you persisted in the matter."

In passing sentence, the judge did take into account that Bulloch pleaded guilty and prevented his victims from testifying in court.

His defence lawyer Robert Anthony told the court: "He has in a sense been punishing himself since the commission of these offences and in some sort of odd way he has found a great deal of relief in facing up to what he has done."

Anthony also told the court that Bulloch co-operated fully with his extradition from Cyprus and "offered no resistance and returned to his country to face up to what he had done."

Bulloch had been at the Limassol school for six years, where he taught English and Maths, before his arrest.

[04] Peres stresses need for co-existence

ISRAEL'S former Prime Minister Shimon Peres urged his compatriots and young Palestinians to forget the past and agree to co-exist.

"The young generation should not follow the footsteps of their predecessors, not because their fathers were worse than their children or their parents, but because the world has changed," Peres told young Israelis, Palestinians and Egyptians in Paphos yesterday.

Peres, a Noble Peace Prize laureate, was speaking at a 'Young Leaders Network' conference, organised by the Peres centre for Peace.

Peres expressed support for the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, but said the alternative of a bi-national state was unachievable.

"We need two states but one economy."

Peres said the key to solving the Israeli-Palestinian problem was to ensure "political separateness" and "economic integration".

He added that the Palestinians were lagging behind in economic development and this issue needed to be addressed.

"There is no longer an objective need for war... every country and every people can reach a new height of economic development and a new degree of freedom, and different relations can develop among nations."

Today, the conference will formulate a declaration of co-operation for the future of the Middle East.

[05] EU hits back at Holbrooke criticism

BRITAIN disagrees with US envoy Richard Holbrooke's view that snubbing Turkey on EU membership was a mistake, while the UN says no preconditions should be set for Cyprus peace talks.

The reaction in Nicosia to comments by UN envoy Richard Holbrooke came yesterday from Britain's EU presidency and from the UN.

In December, the EU Luxembourg summit agreed to open negotiations with Cyprus. At the same time it snubbed the Turkish application almost entirely.

Holbrooke said this led directly to the Turkish side's demand on recognition of the breakaway state in the north and on the withdrawal Cyprus's EU membership application.

"Lets be honest about it... the consequences of Luxembourg are with us today and we are going to have to deal with them," Holbrooke said.

"The European Union was correct in inviting Cyprus to talks... and wrong not to invite Turkey... as well... and it is that imbalance which I believe has led to the present impasse."

But British High Commissioner David Madden said yesterday: "It would be very difficult to find someone representing the EU presidency to agree that it was a mistake."

"The Luxembourg conclusions do offer a forward movement to EU-Turkey relations," Madden said. "They offered Turkey a forward progression in its relations with the EU."

And German diplomatic sources told the Cyprus Mail yesterday the EU was working on its relations with Turkey.

"I think a general feeling is that a big part of the problem the EU has with Turkey is one of perception," the sources said. "Turkey did not assess correctly the positive elements of the Luxembourg decision. The EU is now working on highlighting those elements."

The diplomatic community in Cyprus does not believe that all is lost after the failure of Holbrooke's latest peace bid.

"I wouldn't go so far as to say it was a step backwards, but we did not make the step forward we were hoping for," the German source said.

Madden made it clear he would not describe the difference of opinion on the issue with the US as fundamental.

The US, he said, "obviously would like to see the EU in a position to offer rather more to Turkey."

"We very much support the view that this is not a crisis," Madden said. "There are continuing efforts on various fronts and these efforts will continue."

UN Permanent Representative Gustave Feissel was less optimistic.

He said there should be no preconditions for the resumption of talks, but admitted: "We are still basically where we were and where we have been for some time."

"Obviously this is not good. We have been at an impasse and the political situation has been getting worse, more difficult, and of course it is very important that we find a way to move forward, because this is the only way we can reach a settlement," he said.

[06] Government plays down talks impasse

THE GOVERNMENT yesterday launched a damage limitation exercise in the wake of US envoy Richard Holbrooke's failure to kick-start the peace process.

Although the government was less than happy with Holbrooke's reluctance to blame the Turkish side outright for the impasse, spokesman Christos Stylianides tried not to sound defeatist.

"The government does not believe there is a complete deadlock but a lack of progress."

And Stylianides wanted to underline that the Americans still had a decisive role to play in finding a Cyprus solution.

"We hope the international community will understand that Denktash and Turkey bear exclusive responsibility for the lack of progress," the government spokesman said yesterday.

After President Clerides expressed open disappointment with Holbrooke on Monday, Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides yesterday tried to soften the blow when asked if the US initiative was dead.

"No. I believe it is too early to say it is the end of he road.

"It is obvious that the Turkish side was more intransigent than ever, but this does not mean that our efforts stop here."

Cassoulides said demands by the Turkish Cypriot side for recognition were never discussed during meetings with Holbrooke.

Akel warned yesterday that the Americans' ultimate aim was to pressure the government into recognising the occupation regime and scrapping the S-300 missile order.

"Akel considers these aims to remain at the centre of America's policy and new efforts by Holbrooke," an Akel statement said yesterday.

Diko leader Spyros Kyprianou blamed the current failure on Athens because of its "step-by-step" approach towards normalising relations with Turkey.

He argued that Athens was ignoring the Cyprus problem so it could improve Greco-Turkish relations.

As a result Cyprus is now staring partition in the face, said Kyprianou.

New Horizons said the Clerides administration only had itself to blame for being ill-prepared for Holbrooke's visit.

However, Euro Democrat Alexis Galanos said not enough attention was given to highlighting Cyprus' plight to the international community.

"Denktash is an illegal dictator supported by occupation troops, this is the reality that we are not able to make clear."

Galanos said the poor performance of the government's enlightenment campaign was at the root of the current deadlock.

On Friday, the National Council will meet to be briefed by Clerides and decide on what the next move should be.

[07] Concern over increasing air pollution

POLICE are still unable to clamp down on over-polluting cars -- 14 years after they first asked for additional means to do so and five years after the House of Representatives urged urgent action over the problem.

The news came as a shock to the House Environment Committee, which yesterday sought explanations as to why Cyprus continued to lag behind Europe in car exhaust emission controls.

Sulphur content in diesel is 20 times higher than existing EU directives. If levels are unchanged, it will be 200 times higher than EU directives for the year 2000.

Regulations do not specify levels of pollutants in car emissions and police must chase after "visible smoke' -- which drivers are quick to eliminate by changing to first gear.

Committee chairman Demetris Eliades erupted when police said that they had first asked for a change in the law in 1984 in order to fight over- polluting vehicles, particularly trucks, and for the technical means -- smoke testers -- to implement it.

The word from officials failed to appease. They said effective controls required a change in regulations, extra staff and additional technical means -- all of which had been singled out by the Environment Committee in 1993.

Officials said these were all in the process of being implemented as part of Cyprus' EU harmonisation drive. But tougher specifications would be meaningless unless the Cyprus Oil Refinery produced better fuel, and unless EU controls on emissions were based on the quality of fuel available, they added.

But the fuel problem may be on its way to being resolved. The government will guarantee a £36 million investment project to ensure that the refinery complies with EU specifications. A final proposal to this effect goes to the Council of Ministers in a fortnight.

The project would make Cyprus self-reliant on lead-free petrol and would reduce sulphur content in diesel to comply with EU directives for the year 2005. It should be completed in two years' time.

The Communications Ministry said 31 new posts were being earmarked for staff to man car inspection units. They will check exhaust emissions and vehicle safety.

The new EU-approved emissions controls will be implemented gradually by the year 2002. Better fuel will be available and emissions standards will be set. Some £1.5 million will go on equipment to be used to prove violation of emission standards.

The first results of exhaust emissions controls should be in force by the year 2000, with the ministry anticipating no problems with new cars. Incentives may be required to encourage owners of old cars to replace them.

The Health Ministry said surveys had shown that children who lived on roads with heavy traffic have higher levels of lead in their blood than children living in rural areas. Studies abroad show that sulphur dioxide leads to health problems. They also indicate that 10 per cent of vehicles cause 50 per cent of total car pollution -- which means that action against a relatively small number of cars can be effective.

George Perdikis of the Greens spoke of an rise in cases of asthma among children living in towns, adding that the ministry was not open about the results of air quality tests. Perdikis said the tests had shown levels of certain pollutants shooting up on certain days, yet members of the public who suffer from respiratory problems had not been warned.

The issue remains before the committee.

[08] Building strike called off

Sek and Peo unions announced yesterday that they had called off the 24-hour strike after hectic behind-the-scene negotiations.

Following signs that employers might be willing to shift from their call for a pay freeze in the renewal of contentious collective agreements, Labour Minister Andreas Moushiouttas will today submit a mediation proposal to both sides.

After receiving the proposal, union chiefs will meet to decide whether to accept the offer or go ahead with strike action.

By averting a strike in the building industry, the government hopes other pay negotiations will follow suit.

[09] Larnaca port to go on strike

A general union assembly will decide today what form the action will take, and how long the strike will last.

Peo union will suggest that the action be confined to 24 hours, instead of the indefinite strike currently planned. Peo union representative Costas Christodoulou also called on the Minister of Communications and Works, Leontios Ierodiaconou, to arrange a meeting with all unions concerned to discuss future plans for the port.

Deok union will also support the 24 hour limit so that a meeting with the minister can be arranged. Deok local secretary Panayiotis Kitipos said the issue went beyond the livelihoods of 200 families that might "end up on the streets", but also raised the question of the government's failure to deliver on "thousands of promises" to the town.

"Larnaca has received more promises than any other city in Europe," Kitipos said.

Today's strike was preceded by a two hour-strike on Monday.

[10] Police deny wrongdoing in naming Aids sufferer

Speaking on television on Monday, the president of the Cyprus Human Rights Association accused the police of infringing the human rights of British Cypriot Chrysavgi Zarzour, by naming her as an Aids sufferer in a police announcement dated March 30.

The announcement was made after Zarzour's arrest following a complaint from a 25-year-old man that she had not revealed her condition to him before they had sex.

But a police statement said yesterday they had not revealed the woman's name until she had confessed in a signed deposition that she was an Aids carrier.

The statement added that not only had police not infringed any law on human rights, but on the contrary had announced actual events, as they were obliged to do in order to protect people who may have had sexual contact with the woman concerned.

The controversy has surfaced in the wake of criticism of the press handling of the case of a priest who allegedly has Aids. Appeals from various quarters have been made for more sensitivity to be shown towards Aids sufferers.

Zarzour was last month sentenced to seven months in jail after being found guilty of having unprotected sex with two men without first informing them of her condition.

[11] Euro youth programme to highlight bi-communal work

This was the message from youth representatives at yesterday's launch of the island's participation in the scheme, which is aimed at 15 to 25-year- olds from around Europe.

Cyprus is taking part in category D of the programme, which involves youth exchanges between the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Mediterranean basin and Latin America.

According to promotional material issued by the European Commission, the primary aim of the programme is to "teach the values of tolerance, democracy and active citizenship" to young people so they may "participate in the construction of Europe."

With these principles in mind, the Cyprus National Service -- a government body created last year with the duty of co-ordinating the programme in Cyprus -- has published information leaflets and the programme application form in Turkish, as "an official language of the Republic of Cyprus".

The president of the evaluation committee of the National Service, Mathos Mavromatis, stressed that Turkish Cypriot youths could have a lot to gain from the programme.

And one of the seven youth teams taking part in the first wave of exchanges is in fact a bi-communal team from Nicosia, consisting of nine Greek Cypriot and nine Turkish Cypriot youths.

They will examine "Bi-communal Experiences from divided societies", and will exchange experiences with a group of Protestant and Catholic youths from Northern Ireland.

[12] The challenge of the bug

THE CHALLENGE of the Year 2000 and practical solutions to fight the millennium bug provide the focus for a three-day Cyprus Computer Society (CCS) course which began yesterday.

The course -- entitled 'The Millennium Problem in Information Technology: Dangers, Options and Solutions' -- attempts to help organisations understand the technology they use and be in a better position to deal with system failures.

It began yesterday by defining and giving scope to the problem. As the Training Co-ordinator of the CCS, Panicos Masouras, explained, examples were drawn from the accounting, insurance and medical industries, and strategies on how companies could deal with potential problems were laid out.

The next two days' programme will involve the demonstration of different tools to enable companies to assess the impact of the bug on their organisation and how to deal with it, including changing data, disc storing and dealing with date errors.

The CCS, a non-profit organisation, argues that "date errors can produce unanticipated problems in everything from digital watches to embedded control systems that are part of sophisticated structures controlling nuclear reactors."

The programme will home in on this aspect to deal with "the equally important" havoc that date errors can produce in everyday business applications, such as accounting, inventory control, sales and marketing, personnel and production line systems that support organisations in their day-to-day running.

The course is hosted by the Higher Technical Institute at its premises and is attended by a diverse audience including Cyprus Airways, insurance companies and manufacturers. It will last until tomorrow, beginning at 8.30am daily.

[13] Cuban cigars off the CY menu

Akel deputy Doros Christodoulou complained on Monday that Havana cigars were no longer available on CY flights.

The cigar deficiency on the national carrier was reported in communist mouthpiece Haravghi yesterday. The paper claimed it was ordered so that the airline could comply with the US embargo on Cuba.

Akel general secretary Demetris Christofias and party spokesman Nicos Katsourides have just returned from a trip to Cuba where they met Fidel Castro.

But an airline source said yesterday the lack of Havanas had nothing to do with the US embargo on Cuba.

"We want to sell the cigars. They are always welcome and we are willing to sell them," the source said. "But there was a small problem with the importers who are refusing to give us any Cuban cigars this year. We have been and still are keen to sell Havana cigars on our flights."

[14] 'Drug mastermind' held

Frangou, 29, was arrested in Athens in February and extradited on Monday night. He was escorted back by a Cypriot police officer and arrested at Larnaca airport.

Police told Larnaca district court that Frangou was a suspect in the despatch of 110 kilos of compressed cannabis to Cyprus in different shipments in the 15 months between January 1997 and March 1998. The cannabis was found on different dates in a container of coal at Limassol port, in a cargo of tobacco and in the possession of two other people.

Four people have been arrested in connection with case, while Frangou's mother Elli was held in police custody for 20 days on suspicion of collecting money on her son's behalf.

[15] Man killed by bulldozer

George Hatzikikkos died when his bulldozer overturned after hitting uneven ground. The accident occurred at around 12.45pm.

The victim was transferred to Limassol General Hospital, where his death was confirmed.

State pathologist Panikos Stavrianos visited the scene of the accident and will conduct an autopsy.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1998

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