Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 98-10-20

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

Tuesday, October 20, 1998

CONTENTS

[01] If Denktash goes abroad...

[02] Christodoulou: VAT hike needed

[03] What is the role of El Al agents at the airport?

[04] Kyprianou lashes out at UN rep on missing

[05] Full US backing for Hercus effort

[06] Shuttle talks will deal with the essence

[07] Clerides expects ministers' financial statements by end of month

[08] Xiourouppas condition improves

[09] Greek Cypriot freed

[01] If Denktash goes abroad...

A British Home Office spokeswoman told the Cyprus News Agency yesterday that this would also apply to any other country with which Cyprus held an extradition treaty.

"Naturally, whether he will be actually extradited or not will depend upon the contents of the official documents that will be supplied by the Cyprus government in such an event," she added.

The unnamed spokeswoman was commenting on a report in The Times, suggesting that if Britain were to grant extradition requests similar to that for Pinochet in the future, Denktash and others of his ilk would be advised to stay away.

The report suggested that Greek Cypriots, who hold Denktash responsible for the deaths of their compatriots during the 1974 invasion, could apply for his extradition during one of his visits abroad.

Tuesday, October 20, 1998

[02] Christodoulou: VAT hike needed

THE Island's services-based economy will grow by a healthy 4.7 per cent this year, but Finance Minister Christodoulos Christodoulou warned yesterday that fiscal reforms were needed to prepare Cyprus for EU membership early in the next century.

The minister said that Cyprus needed to boost revenues with adjustments to Value Added Tax and other indirect taxes.

Addressing the House Finance Committee, the minister said the economy was expected to grow by four per cent in 1999.

His forecast of a 4.7 per cent growth this year was higher than figures floated by independent economists, which range between three and four per cent. The economy grew by 2.5 per cent last year and by 2.2. per cent in 1996.

Tourist arrivals in the January-July period of 1998 increased by 9.3 per cent, said the minister, compared to a rise of only 1.5 per cent in the same period last year. Tourism is the backbone of the Cyprus economy and accounts for nearly 20 per cent of gross domestic product.

The island earned about $1.61 billion from the 2.08 million tourists who visited in 1997 and looks set to earn just under $2 billion this year.

"The ability to make further savings in public expenditure is very limited and therefore there is a need to boost revenues with adjustments in Value Added Tax and other indirect taxes," said Christodoulou.

VAT is at present calculated at eight per cent and he is expected to ask the House later this year to approve an increase of four percentage points as part of a revised package of tax hikes. The original proposals were thrown out by deputies who accused the government of failing to hold sufficient advance consultations on the measures. The average VAT in EU countries is 15 per cent, although some charge as much as 20 per cent.

Christodoulou said yesterday that the public debt in 1999 would reach 61.7 per cent of GDP, breaching for the first time the Maastricht ceiling of 60 per cent for membership of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Public debt is provisionally forecast at 59.8 per cent this year.

"Such a development would certainly act against the good image of the Cypriot economy in the framework of its (EU) accession course and our aspiration that Cyprus be included in the Economic and Monetary Union immediately after accession," said Christodoulou.

Cyprus is also in breach of the three per cent ceiling on fiscal deficit. This is forecast to hit 5.7 per cent this year and shoot to 6.3 per cent in 1999. It was originally forecast to end 1998 higher, but lower energy prices on world markets, better tax collection and a one per cent hike in the Defence Fund Tax helped slow its rise.

Christodoulou last week announced a series of measures to reduce government expenditure, introducing restrictions on overtime pay for policemen, entertainment expenses, allowances for officials travelling abroad on business and the use of state-owned vehicles.

Last month he said the state payroll, including pensions, would increase in 1999 by £59 million, or 10 per cent, to a staggering £645 million.

The minister appeared before the committee yesterday to discuss the draft 1999 budget, which forecasts a deficit of £581 million on expenditure of £1.68 billion and revenues of £1.1 billion.

The draft budget must be approved by the House before the end of the year.

Tuesday, October 20, 1998

[03] What is the role of El Al agents at the airport?

No Israeli Mossad agents ever operated at Cyprus airports, Deputy Police Chief Andreas Christofides, said yesterday, dismissing as "not true" House MP Kikis Yiangou's claims to the contrary, and his allegation that the Cyprus Police force had ever surrendered its authority to Mossad or El Al agents there.

Yiangou, in a Haravghi story yesterday, said agents of Israel's Mossad intelligence service had been screening passengers flying to Israel from Larnaca and Paphos airports.

The deputy told Haravghi, mouthpiece of the communist Akel party, that a "confidential document" obtained by a local television station - the paper did not identify the TV station - confirmed that the Council of Ministers, aghast at the situation, had revoked Mossad's alleged powers to screen passengers leaving Cyprus.

Yiangou said these alleged restrictions on Mossad by the Council of Ministers confirmed that the Cyprus Police had, indeed, let Mossad usurp airport police security prerogatives.

He further alleged that Mossad agents in May chased down a foreign tourist who was behaving suspiciously, tortured him and only released him when Cyprus police intervened.

"I know the statements made by Mr. Kikis Yiangou, but that's not the case," Christofides said. "No Mossad agent has ever been there at the airport. It's a misunderstanding. We don't have Mossad agents at the airport. We don't need them. We have our own (intelligence) agents. We have our own police officers."

Christofides did not elaborate on the case of the alleged abuse of a foreign tourist, except to say he was familiar with the allegation.

However, other security sources familiar with the case said it was Cyprus airport police, and not agents of Mossad or El Al security personnel, who roughed up the tourist in question.

The source said the Cyprus police then left the scene, sticking the El Al personnel there with the rap, which for diplomatic reasons El Al did not protest against.

As to surrendering police powers to Israeli agents, Christofides bristled: "No, that's not true. We never surrendered our authority. The only authority in Cyprus responsible for security, not only for the El Al company but for all security matters, is the police."

"El Al security officers are present (in both airports). They may advise, but they have no authority to do anything. Only the Cyprus police has the authority for security at the airport," he said.

Phileleftheros on Sunday said Nicos Koshis, Minister of Justice and Public Order, had confirmed that a Council of Ministers' decision had restricted the scope of the activities of El Al security personnel at the two airports.

Phileleftheros said these restrictions followed complaints about alleged excesses by El Al security personnel, and alarm caused last year by an Israeli security drill at Larnaca airport that failed to alert airport authorities ahead of time.

"There wasn't any revocation," a government source, who insisted on anonymity, said of the Council's action. "It was kind of putting something in order which was not, in a sense. There were no established procedures on how these people would act, and so there was some kind of order imposed on a situation which existed... but was not based on certain regulations."

The source said the Foreign Ministry had communicated the Council's wishes to the Israeli Embassy, and the matter had been satisfactorily handled - contrary to the Phileleftheros report, which said the Israeli embassy bridled at the Foreign Ministry's communiqué.

Christofides echoed the source, saying: "Sometimes in the past, they (the El Al personnel) over-reacted, not in a way replacing the police. But sometimes they over-reacted. So the matter was reconsidered, and everything now has been arranged... (and) they are not over-reacting."

But Christofides insisted that the duties of El Al security personnel, many of them Cyprus nationals, "have not been limited... What they could do in the past, they can also do now... interview passengers, for example, to check their papers, to see if they have visas."

"They are El Al agents. If they notice something suspicious, they have to bring it to the attention of the Cyprus police. They have not authority to do anything else. We have police officers at the airport, and if something is going wrong... then it is the police at the airport who are going to arrest or to search," he said.

"Representatives from the Israeli embassy, the security officer from the Israeli embassy, may be present there," to escort Israel's ambassador or other VIPs, or to pick up the diplomatic pouch, he said. "They are security officers; there is nothing wrong with this. But they cannot perform police duties."

Christofides declined to characterise Yiangou's remarks as irresponsible: "No, I cannot say that," he said, adding: "Mr Yiangou makes many, many, many statements every day." He did not elaborate.

However, security sources who declined to be identified, said Yiangou was re-visiting the old charges against the Israeli embassy, its security personnel and the Israeli flag carrier, El Al, for "political" reasons.

The sources said Yiangou had an axe to grind with Israel because of its military ties to Turkey, which have caused some concern in Cyprus political and governmental circles. Israel insists its military ties to Turkey are not a threat to Cyprus.

The Israeli embassy yesterday declined to comment on the two newspaper stories. Israeli sources did, however, insist that the El Al airport security personnel in Cyprus were merely employees of El Al, and not employees of the embassy, or Mossad agents.

Tuesday, October 20, 1998

[04] Kyprianou lashes out at UN rep on missing

THE UN'S representative on the Committee for Missing Persons (CMP) is acting more like a tourist than an appointed official, House President Spyros Kyprianou said yesterday.

"I'm not happy with the way the new representative of the Secretary-general is handling things," Kyprianou said. "Apart from the fact - and without revealing too much detail - that he supports unacceptable positions... he is a tourist".

The House President was speaking after a meeting with the Committee for the Relatives of Missing Persons, where it also emerged that President Clerides has asked UN Chief of Mission Dame Ann Hercus to take on board the missing issue as part of the new round of shuttle talks which got under way last Friday.

Kyprianou's comments on the issue yesterday were directed at Jean-Pierre Ritter, the Swiss diplomat appointed as the UN Secretary-general's representative to the CMP.

According to Kyprianou, since his appointment nearly six months ago for an 18-month period, Ritter has done little in his capacity as a member of the CMP.

He said Ritter was not making a "serious effort" to move things forward on the tripartite committee, which also includes one Greek Cypriot and one Turkish Cypriot.

"He was only here for a few days, so his efforts are not serious," Kyprianou said. "This is a humanitarian issue and the international community has a huge responsibility. We are not going to accept that the missing issue has reached a dead end."

The President of the relatives' committee, Nicos Theodosiou, said the missing issue had gone off the rails. "It appears we are not moving in the right direction, but we are not going to accept that they are dead," he said.

"We are definitely worried with the way Mr Ritter has been handling the issue until now, and we are also worried over the long period of time he is absent from the island."

UN sources said that since the breakdown earlier this year of a July 1997 agreement between President Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash on the missing, there was little Ritter could in fact do.

But Humanitarian Affairs Commissioner Takis Christopoulos told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that there was no connection between the continuing work of the CMP and the 1997 agreement on the exchange of information and exhumation of remains.

He said the terms of reference were still there, and that Ritter's mandate was to continue the work of his predecessor Paul Wurth. "There are lots of cases which have not been touched yet," Christopoulos said.

He said that since his appointment, Ritter had visited the island in July and September, staying around a week each time. He is due back on the island in the beginning of November.

Christopoulos said there had been some difficulties involving the Turkish Cypriot side, which has set a number of conditions, which the Greek Cypriot side does not agree with, before the CMP can continue its work.

Tuesday, October 20, 1998

[05] Full US backing for Hercus effort

U.S. AMBASSADOR Kenneth Brill said yesterday that Washington supported the renewed UN peace effort in Cyprus, and that the Clinton Administration would report to Congress on its probe into whether American weapons were in Cyprus in violation of US law.

After meeting with President Glafcos Clerides, Brill said they had "talked about our strong support for the UN effort," to get the Greek and Turkish Cypriot sides back to the negotiating table to re-open talks, which stalled nearly a year ago.

"I am not going to say anything about that, obviously, but we do support very much what the (UN) secretary-general, and what Dame Ann Hercus (the UN chief of mission in Cyprus) are trying to do," Brill said.

Hercus has urged the leaders of both Cyprus communities not to speak to the news media about her shuttle discussions with both sides, which she began last Friday with a meeting with Clerides. She is scheduled to meet tomorrow with Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, and then again on Thursday with Clerides.

Her aim is to reduce Cyprus tensions and promote a just and lasting Cyprus settlement. Some of that tension stems from the Republic's purchase of Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missiles, whose delivery has been postponed several times, most recently to sometime this winter. No definite delivery date has been set.

Turkey has threatened military action if the missiles are deployed, a threat Washington has cautioned Ankara against carrying out.

Asked why Washington did not ask Turkey to comply with US resolutions requiring Ankara to remove its occupation troops from Cyprus, Brill said: "We have a very robust dialogue on the Cyprus issue with all players. We are very consistent and direct in our discussions, and we will continue to be."

As to the US probe into any US weapons brought into the island in violation of US law, Brill said: "We are working on it. We expect to be reporting to the Congress as soon as we can.

"And we are trying to do everything we can to make sure our law is being upheld... trying to make sure that all people who have received US military equipment in one way or another have done it in compliance with the law," Brill said.

US law, which applies the whole of the island, forbids the transfer of US military equipment to the island if the transfer furthers the severance or division of Cyprus.

"If there are any indications that there is American equipment anywhere on the island, we will be interested in that, Brill said.

Turkey is reported to have recently bolstered its forces in occupied northern Cyprus by replacing many of its aging US-supplied tanks, artillery and other armour with newer American models.

In 1975, not long after Turkey's 1974 invasion of Cyprus, the US Congress imposed an arms embargo on Turkey for using American weapons - supplied to Turkey as a member of Nato - to invade the island, in violation of US law. That embargo was lifted in 1978.

Tuesday, October 20, 1998

[06] Shuttle talks will deal with the essence

Speaking after a meeting with President Glafcos Clerides, Kyprianou said that although emphasis would be placed on military matters, particularly that of armaments, during the first stages of the talks, this issue had not come up during his meeting with UN representative Dame Ann Hercus, who is holding the shuttle talks, or that of Clerides and Hercus.

He said the discussions so far had been general in nature.

Hercus is to meet Clerides again next Wednesday and will then meet Denktash on Thursday.

Denktash meanwhile, has reiterated that if his plan for a confederal solution is not accepted, he will press on with plans for closer alignment of the occupied areas with mainland Turkey.

Denktash described the confederation proposal as an attempt to create a "bridge of peace" between Greece and Turkey over Cyprus.

Tuesday, October 20, 1998

[07] Clerides expects ministers' financial statements by end of month

Speaking at his daily press briefing, Stylianides said some of the ministers had already handed in their details.

Information relating to Interior Minister Dinos Michaelides is however with the Auditor-general, the government spokesman said.

Michaelides has been accused by Disy deputy Christos Pourgourides on 14 counts of gaining personal wealth through alleged corruption during his term of office as Interior Minister.

The allegations are being investigated by the government.

Asked if the report would be made public, Stylianides said it would be difficult to keep something like that out of the public eye.

"There is a clear political will to put the knife to the bone on this issue and we mean this," Stylianides said. "I think this has been proved by investigation into different issues."

The government's action on ministers' wealth was instigated after growing public discontent over allegations that politicians and government employees were getting rich on dirty money.

Clerides put forward his proposal that ministers submit details of their personal wealth at a cabinet meeting in September, just days before Pourgourides said he had evidence implicating a government minister - Michaelides, who was not immediately named - in corruption.

The declaration of assets is believed to be linked to an anti-corruption bill that has been before the House of Representatives since 1993. Political parties have been dragging their heels over the bill.

Tuesday, October 20, 1998

[08] Xiourouppas condition improves

The news on Xiourouppas' condition was given yesterday by the head of surgery at Larnaca Hospital, Dr Michalis Theophanou.

Xiourouppas - a Diko councillor for Aradippou - was hit three times in the head and neck and by an unknown assailant in Larnaca at 7.50pm in the parking area of his block of flats.

The hooded gunman fired at Xiourouppas as he was getting out of his car. Xiourouppas then managed to run 20 metres into a nearby corridor before collapsing and being shot a second time at close range.

Police say between six and eight shots were fired in total. Two of these hit a taxi waiting for an unnamed woman in the block of flats.

Police investigations have so far revealed that the gun used was a pistol not fitted with a silencer. The police have carried out extensive questioning and are investigating whether a name whispered by Xiourouppas just before he blacked out, was actually the name of his assailant or was simply said randomly.

Xiourouppas' son, George, 28, is currently in custody in Limassol suspected of involvement in an underworld murder plot.

Xiourouppas himself has a criminal record after being convicted for his part in the attempted murder of Charalambos Boutzouris after he took a fire- arm into a Larnaca cabaret.

Tuesday, October 20, 1998

[09] Greek Cypriot freed

Refugee Soteriou, 32, was detained 10 days ago when he drove into the occupied areas through the British sovereign base at Dhekelia. He had been sentenced to one month in prison by a military 'court'.

He returned to the free areas yesterday morning, and his car is expected to be returned in a day or two.

Unficyp Spokesman Waldemar Rokoszewski said yesterday that the handover had gone "smoothly".

Soteriou, originally from Famagusta, now lives in Larnaca.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1998

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