Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 98-12-09

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

Wednesday, December 9, 1998

CONTENTS

[01] Germany warns missiles will hamper EU accession course

[02] Economy on track for solid 1998 growth

[03] Holbrooke: US interest to rise after Turkish elections

[04] Clerides request unlikely to delay citizenship bill

[05] Kurds protest French investigation

[06] Accession process 'going smoothly'

[07] Matsakis fires environmental broadside at British Bases

[08] Carob trees at threat

[09] Interpol called in over second Chinese suspect

[10] Madden to be posted in Athens, replacement announced

[11] Spy trial postponed after changes to charge sheet

[12] Extra shopping time in run-up to Christmas

[01] Germany warns missiles will hamper EU accession course

GERMANY warned yesterday that the deployment of the Russian-300 missiles on the island was likely to affect Cyprus' accession negotiations with the EU.

It also believes that Turkey does not pose a security threat to Cyprus, and that even if the island was "armed to the teeth" it would still be undefendable.

In addition, Turkish Cypriots are unlikely to receive recognition without returning to negotiations, while Turkey has no hope of EU membership as long as the Cyprus problem, among other conditions, remain unresolved.

Germany - which is one of four European countries which says it would prefer a Cyprus solution be found before membership of the Union comes through - takes over the six-monthly rotating EU presidency from Austria in January.

Speaking to journalists in Nicosia following a two-day visit, Germany's special representative for Cyprus, Detlev Graf zu Rantzau, strongly stated his country's opposition to the missile deployment.

Rantzau will take over from Sir David Hannay as the EU special representative for Cyprus when Germany takes over the presidency.

"I find it very likely the deployment of the missiles here would change the environment of the negotiations," Rantzau said. "What it really means? We shall see if the unwanted happens," he added, referring to the deployment.

Rantzau, whose visit focused almost entirely on the missile issue, met separately with President Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash and also with Unficyp Chief of Mission Dame Ann Hercus.

"I expressed to the President the concern of my government about a possible bringing into the country of the S-300 missiles, a concern that was well known to President Clerides," Rantzau said.

"I also expressed the confidence of my government that Clerides would find a solution to the S-300 missile question that would be compatible with the security issues of Cyprus and compatible with the relations of Cyprus with the European Union."

Rantzau made it clear, however, that Germany fully respected Cyprus' sovereign right to defend itself and added that Germany did not believe that Turkey posed a security threat to the island.

"We feel there is no such threat," Rantzau said, but added that he, of course, was not a permanent resident on the island and that often, even if there is no real threat, people can feel threatened.

"My government's argument is that even if there were a threat, we would feel that the deployment of these missiles would not enhance the security situation because, if anyone wanted to attack Cyprus, these missiles would not help Cyprus, because they would be taken out before hostilities began," he said.

In effect, he said, the only results obtained from the missile deployment would be the risk of destabilising the island and the region.

"Cyprus is not defendable against the military attack of a determined antagonist... Even if, I think, one would want to arm the Republic of Cyprus to the teeth and cram tanks, planes and missiles into the country... the island is not defendable."

Rantzau said Germany believed the best way forward in terms of security would be the finding of a political solution.

President Clerides has put forward a proposal for the demilitarisation of the entire island, an idea which has been rejected by Turkey.

The Turkish Cypriot side is insisting on full recognition before it returns to any kind of talks.

"I told Mr Denktash that it is unlikely that the Greek Cypriot side will agree at the beginning of negotiations, what should normally come at the end of negotiations," Rantzau said. "But he wants to first get this (recognition) at the start of negotiations. I told him it will not happen this way, so there is a stalemate."

"As long as both sides stick to positions they know the other side will not accept, there will be no negotiations."

Wednesday, December 9, 1998

[02] Economy on track for solid 1998 growth

THE ECONOMY, forecast to grow by an impressive 4.7 per cent this year, remained firmly on course in the first nine months of the year, thanks to an expansion in tourism and a revival in domestic demand.

A survey conducted in October by the Finance Ministry's Department of Statistics and Research also found that local entrepreneurs were more optimistic about their businesses' future and demand at present than they had been a year ago.

In a report released yesterday, the department said activity in the vital construction sector continued to pick up, albeit modestly, in the January- August period. Manufacturing remained at last year's levels, while agriculture showed an improvement after last year's sharp decline.

On the whole, the report appeared to paint a picture of an economy that is growing at a respectable rate despite the troubles besieging some sectors.

The modest growth in the construction sector, however, bodes well for the economy as a whole since the long-term durability of this activity, e.g. houses and office blocks, is widely used to gauge the level of public confidence in the economy and in political and security prospects.

The report said a total of 1.8 million tourists came to Cyprus in the January-September period. A separate report issued last week by the Department of Research and Statistics said that a total of 290,441 tourists had arrived on the island in October, taking up to about 2.1 million the number of tourists who have come to the island in the year's first 10 months.

Quoting a provisional estimate by the Cyprus Tourism Organisation, the department said that the island's earnings from tourism in the first six months of 1998 totalled £324.6 million, compared to £313 million in the corresponding period of 1997. Beside June, the peak months of the season are July, August and September.

The CTO also said that the average expenditure of tourists per day rose by 2 per cent in the first six months of the year over the same period of 1997.

Tourism is the motor of the island's economy, earning about £1 billion a year. It accounts for about 20 per cent of GDP and is the largest single employer on the island. This has, in turn, led many to call on government planners to try and reduce dependence on tourism.

Continuing with the stream of good news, yesterday's report said inflation fell to 2.5 per cent in the first nine months of the year, a drop of one percentage point over the same period last year. Unemployment also fell due to the general revival in economic activity with only 10,483 people officially registered as unemployed in the January-August period of 1998. A "large increase" of joblessness, however, was recorded in the construction sector.

The number of construction-related workers out of a job at the end of August reached 1,556, compared to 1,255 at the same time last year.

The sector has been slowly recovering in recent months, with authorised building permits, a main indicator in the business, rising by 5.3 per cent in the January-August period.

The rise, however, was mostly in commercial buildings. Permits for residential buildings, which account for more than 60 per cent of all permits, actually fell by 4.9 per cent, according to the report. A much larger decline, 68.4 per cent, was recorded in the number of building permits for hotels and tourist apartments.

Manufacturing, another problem-ridden sector, remained stuck at last year's levels during the first eight months of the year. All industries registered a decline in production during the period in question except for textiles and leather products, food, beverages and tobacco and non-metallic mineral products, such as cement.

Like some sectors on the island, manufacturing has been undermined by productivity levels that are lower than real wage increases, thus losing its competitiveness.

The rising labour costs and the excessive strength of unions in some cases have combined to bring about the shrinking of the sector's contribution to GDP from 14.7 per cent in 1990 to 11.2 per cent last year.

Wednesday, December 9, 1998

[03] Holbrooke: US interest to rise after Turkish elections

Speaking after a meeting with Clerides yesterday, House President Spyros Kyprianou said that Holbrooke, the US Representative on Cyprus, had spelt out during a phone call to Clerides the continuing American interest in Cyprus, and that the US was hard at work on the issue of the S-300 missiles.

On Monday, Holbrooke is to hold contacts in Athens as part of the US efforts on Cyprus. This will include a meeting with Greek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos.

Kyprianou met with Clerides on the occasion of the President's departure for Vienna today to take part in an EU summit.

Referring to the missiles, Kyprianou said that there was a need "to clear the stage on everyone's part".

There had, he added, been "different movements, especially by UN General Secretary Kofi Annan", and that the goal of these was "a lowering of tension".

But he added that although a proposal to prevent the missiles from coming was expected, Clerides had given him no indication as to whether or not he thought it would be an acceptable proposal. The National Council decisions and conditions under which the S-300 might not be deployed still stood, he added.

Wednesday, December 9, 1998

[04] Clerides request unlikely to delay citizenship bill

AKEL DEPUTY Andreas Philippou says he expects a revised version of his bill, which would eliminate sex-discrimination in the waiting periods for Cyprus citizenship, to be accepted by President Clerides, who rejected the original bill at the weekend.

The bill passed unanimously by the House Plenum on November 19 had equalised at two years the period that both foreign-born women and foreign- born men with Cypriot spouses had to wait before becoming eligible to apply for Cyprus citizenship.

Prior to this, foreign-born men married to Cypriot women had to wait five years before being able to apply for citizenship - five times longer than the one-year waiting period for foreign-born women married to Cypriot men.

According to Philippou, in sending the bill back to the House, Clerides had voiced his belief that "illegals should be out of the law".

Philippou said Clerides was concerned the bill's language might have allowed foreign-born spouses of Cypriots, who had been living in the country illegally before applying for citizenship, to make application and ultimately become "legal" citizens.

"We agree on that. They (the illegals) have no right to be in the country, and we will do it," Philippou said yesterday, indicating the House would change the bill to conform to Clerides' objection during committee debate, scheduled for today.

"(But) I will argue in Parliament that it is not necessary" Philippou said, to make the other change Clerides wanted: to raise from the bill's two years, to Clerides' three, the waiting period for foreign-born spouses to apply for citizenship.

Clerides had wanted the waiting period raised from two years, to three, to discourage marriages of convenience.

When he tabled the bill, Philippou said, he had wanted only a one-year waiting period. But he agreed to two years in a compromise with deputies concerned that only one year of waiting might lead to such marriages.

"I would hope that Parliament would not want to change it to three years," he told the Cyprus Mail yesterday, adding that: "Cyprus men and Cyprus women should have equal rights."

He said he expected the bill, after today's committee debate, to go to the House Plenum, where it will be debated and passed tomorrow with the change Clerides wants regarding "illegals," while keeping the bill's original two- year waiting period.

"My guess is (Clerides) will not" send it back to Parliament after it is revised and resubmitted to him, Philippou added.

The Akel deputy had tabled the bill some 19 months ago on grounds the old law "has been totally unjust to women."

The new legislation could affect some 3,000 foreign-born men married to Cypriot women and still waiting for citizenship eligibility under the old five-year rule. There are about 8,000 mixed marriages of Cypriots and foreign-born spouses in Cyprus.

Wednesday, December 9, 1998

[05] Kurds protest French investigation

Cyprus's Kurdish community yesterday massed outside the French Embassy in Nicosia in a protest - which nearly ended in a self-immolation - against France's attempt to link Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan with an alleged extortion scheme.

French Attorney-general François Ricard on Monday visited Ocalan, who is under house arrest in Italy, seeking information about "persons wanted by the French police," according to Nucan Derya, the Cyprus representative of the Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK).

The two fugitives sought by French police allegedly were ordered by Ocalan to extort money for the rebel PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) from Kurds living in France.

Derya said Ocalan neither knew the pair nor ordered them to commit extortion.

The "two people being looked for by France, who are accused of taking money from people by force, are somebody not related to the Kurdish cause," Derya said, adding: Ocalan "stated he has no contact with these persons, he doesn't know them."

"People came from all over Cyprus, about 150 - most of the Kurdish people living in Cyprus," to present a petition to French officials, accusing Turkey of exploiting its ties with France against the Kurdish cause, Derya said.

The petition also declared Ricard's charges inimical to Ocalan's attempt "to simplify the national attention at the moment" on opening a dialogue with Turkey towards a political end to the Turkish-PKK fighting, she added.

During the demonstration, a Kurdish man identified as Ebu Emad, about 40, threatened to douse himself with petrol and set himself afire to dramatise his frustration at the Kurdish struggle for a homeland, Derya said.

"He had written his letter to us. He had taken petrol and was planning to pour it on himself in front of the French Embassy," Derya told the Cyprus Mail yesterday.

"We took the petrol from the car (he was sitting in) and talked to him very strongly. He was trembling, saying: 'It is the final point. I cannot stand the situation' - the negative attitude toward his people in the struggle," Derya said.

"His son was a (PKK) martyr. His daughter is now in the mountains fighting the Turks. He is from South Kurdistan, the Syrian part," Derya said. "He tried to burn himself. It's the only way for a person who has no other thing to do."

"He said he would try to do it another time. I think we managed to convince him to stop it. We had orders from Ocalan not to allow persons to burn themselves like this, very strict orders from Ocalan," she said.

Derya said, "Of course we would approve an international trial" of Ocalan, "if it were a just trial... unbiased... independent. Why not? Everybody would see the reality. We are innocent. We want only our freedom, our basic rights," she said.

The notion of such a trial, "is not approved by Turkey," she said, adding: "Turkey should be on trial."

Ankara is furious at Italy for refusing to extradite Ocalan to Turkey for trial as a terrorist for his leadership of the 15-year fight for a Kurdish homeland.

Ocalan has been living in Italy, under house arrest, since he was arrested at Rome's international airport on November 12 after disembarking from a flight from Moscow.

Wednesday, December 9, 1998

[06] Accession process 'going smoothly'

Donato Chiarini, new head of the EU Commission's Delegation to Cyprus, diplomatically termed it only a "courtesy call", but Commerce Minister Nicos Rolandis suggested his talks yesterday with Chiarini were "a little more" than that.

If nothing else, their get-together was constructive, as it came on the eve of the semi-annual Summit of the EU heads of state and government this Friday and Saturday in Vienna, according to Chiarini's spokesman, Nicholas Karides.

"We discussed the (Cyprus-EU) accession process," and the fact that the Republic is "going through the screening and negotiating process rather comfortably," Rolandis said.

This is "because the economy of Cyprus is in better condition than the economies of the other (EU fast-track) countries, (all) of Central Europe, which came out of a different (communist) system." The six fast-track countries are Cyprus, Slovenia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia and Hungary.

"It was the conclusion of both of us that the process would be rather smooth," Rolandis said, adding: "These are the messages I get from Brussels, myself... It appears that the (EU) commissioners, as well, feel that from this point of view, at least, Cyprus is proceeding quite satisfactorily" to membership.

Rolandis said he and Chiarini did not discuss the November 9 joint communiqué of EU members Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands, suggesting it would be impossible for Cyprus to join the 15-member European Union if, by the time the accession process drew to a close, the island remained divided.

"I told him this is a question that has been there, and is still there, and may be there in the future as well. Our policy at the moment is to proceed with the screening and negotiating process, and... cross this bridge when we come to it.

"It doesn't make any sense to discuss this issue now. Of course, we are concerned because of this situation, but it will not help if we start discussing it at this stage. We'd rather view the technocratic aspect (of accession) at this stage," Rolandis said.

Rolandis said he and Chiarini also did not touch on the EU's expressed concerns that Cyprus's offshore sector may conflict with EU policies and give the island an unfair advantage over other EU member states, "although we know that this is an issue."

"We talked (instead) generally about some adjustments which have to be made to the legislation and the economy of Cyprus," he said, including the fact "that we still have a number of monopolies here and there," which Cyprus must address, "because they cannot remain as such with the European Union."

"They have to be resolved," he said, adding the government knows that, even with the "transition period on these questions" that the European Union allows, "there is not much time left."

"If we are targeting the year 2004 or 2005 (for EU entry), then we must make sure that by that time, we take the necessary measures to avoid whatever is not acceptable in the European Union... because where we are going, these practices are not acceptable."

"What we are doing - and this is something we are starting at the ministry - is a gradual process of adjustment," he said, "otherwise it may prove difficult for certain sectors of the community. We are moving gradually to resolve these questions."

Karides said this weekend's EU summit was preparatory for Austria, which currently holds the six-month rotating EU presidency, to surrender the post to Germany in January.

In that regard, Germany's Ambassador to Cyprus, Gabrielle von Maisen- Tilborch noted recently that Detlev Graf zu Rantzau would take over as EU Presidency Envoy for Cyprus from Britain's Sir David Hannay.

Wednesday, December 9, 1998

[07] Matsakis fires environmental broadside at British Bases

THE BRITISH bases are hell bent on destroying the Cypriot countryside, Diko deputy Marios Matsakis claimed yesterday.

Not only did he have "information" that British troops were to resume live- fire exercises in the Akamas, but a "huge" track of unique salt lake habitat at Akrotiri was being obliterated to make way for five new British army antennae, Matsakis told the House environment committee.

"The English are trying to destroy our environment wherever they can," the deputy, known for his anti-bases sentiments, concluded.

Committee chairman Demetris Eliades confirmed that the British were to stage war games in the Akamas in January and February. Eliades said the British had rejected all the alternative exercise sites which the government had proposed after repeated protests, from greens and the House, against the use of the Akamas.

Bases spokesman Rob Need confirmed to the Cyprus Mail that exercises were to take place in the Akamas. He said efforts to find an alternative site were "progressing".

The British army secured the right to train in the Akamas under the 1960 treaty establishing Cyprus's independence.

Matsakis is a veteran of many protests against the Akamas exercises, often grabbing the headlines by intruding into restricted zones during the war games, but his main gripe yesterday was the development at the Akrotiri salt lake.

"The English cannot be allowed to destroy the salt lake just because it is within the bases," he said, pointing out that the lake and its environs was home to many rare plants and birds.

Limassol District officer Christakis Athanasiou told the committee that a 40 to 50 donum area of salt marsh on the North side of the lake proper had been cleared for five new antennae. Athanasiou said the bases had carried out an environmental impact study for the development in consultation with relevant government departments. But he said he had only been given a copy of it on Monday - and then only after he had made repeated requests to see it.

Need later dismissed Matsakis's assault on the bases' environmental record as "political rhetoric".

"Our environmental record is absolutely clean," he told the Mail. The spokesman said the new antennae were to replace an old one already on site and added that the relevant impact study had been released to all government departments on Monday, even though the bases were under no obligation to do so.

But the representatives of government departments present at the committee protested that they had never set eyes on the impact study.

"We were never officially informed on these activities," Tassos Gionnis of the Foreign Ministry said.

Gionnis conceded that the bases did not need the government's authorisation for military works within the base area, and the Forestry department representative said the development would cause "no serious damage" to salt lake plant communities.

But Eliades said the bases' actions were unacceptable. "When the British need information for their study they go to the government, but where they are obliged to respect and consult with the authorities and citizens of the Republic before making decisions they do not do it. They must get the message that colonialism has ended," he said.

Matsakis said the antennae would be a major hazard for migratory birds: "Birds travel thousands of miles from Siberia to the Limassol salt lake to be killed a few metres before they land just because the English want to transmit messages."

Akel deputy Kyriacos Tyrimos said it was unfair to single out antennae erected by the British as avian death traps when birds were being killed in mist nets all over the island.

Matsakis also claimed the antennae posed a serious health risk for residents of nearby Akrotiri village. It was all part of a British plot to force the villagers to abandon their homes, he told the committee.

"Many Akrotiri villagers have gone deaf because the English fly over very low to scare them from their homes."

Wednesday, December 9, 1998

[08] Carob trees at threat

ILLEGAL felling is fast turning the carob, one of the most characteristic trees of lowland Cyprus, into an endangered species, the House environment committee heard yesterday.

The subject on the agenda for yesterday morning's committee session was a proposed amendment to the fire prevention law to combat the environmental hazard posed by unregulated charcoal production. But the carob took centre stage as deputies realised the tree's excellent charcoal-making properties could be proving it's undoing.

"In the Limassol area, carobs have almost been wiped out," Yiannakis Potamitis, of the association of environmental groups, told deputies.

Antonis Antoniou of the Environment Service said the carob problem was not restricted to the Limassol area. "There has been a massive reduction everywhere," he said, adding that replacing the losses would not be easy because carobs did not grow easily.

The carob can only be cut under licence from District offices, but this did not save it from illegal felling, the committee heard.

Diko deputy Marios Matsakis said charcoal-makers were the main culprits. He estimated that the charcoal-making industry consumed over 100,000 trees a year. Not all of this timber came from legitimate sources, the deputy claimed.

"The trees come from the fields belonging to Limassol people," he said. Chainsaw-wielding charcoal burners raided the fields, often under cover of night, to make off with carob trees, he said.

Representatives of farmers' associations objected to charcoal burners being labelled thieves in this way.

Matsakis said what he was concerned about was the illegal felling, not who was perpetrating it. He then turned his attention to local authorities: "Village authorities know what is going on but do nothing. They are afraid of the thieves."

Representatives of local authorities took exception at this, saying it was up to police to catch the offenders.

Antoniou suggested the way to save carobs was to further reduce the tariff on imported charcoal.

Potamitis suggested the solution was to make a tree-felling licence a prerequisite for securing a charcoal-making licence.

Deputies welcomed this idea, suggesting such a provision be included in the proposed amendment to the fire prevention law.

The amendment provides for the creation of centralised charcoal-making sites, with the aim of putting an end to the fire and smoke hazards posed by the activities of the 120 or so charcoal makers currently operating throughout the Troodos forest area.

Everyone agreed the amendment was a good idea, though farmers' association representatives said the livelihoods of the charcoal-makers had to be protected by ensuring the new system would not mean additional expense for them.

Wednesday, December 9, 1998

[09] Interpol called in over second Chinese suspect

Apart from one suspect already in custody, police are looking for another on the island, but have asked Interpol to help locate him in case he escaped the security net, Koshis said.

Koshis said that, even though another suspect is still being sought, police consider the crime "solved".

He also said that the motive of the horrendous crime was "without doubt" robbery.

Chinese couple Lou Jian Hui, 23 and Jiang Ming Xia, 23, were strangled to death last Tuesday, after being subjected to torture and sexual abuse with various objects. Their bodies were found dumped in a ravine near Trooditissa on Wednesday.

Police continued their search yesterday for the second Chinese murder suspect, who they believe was the mastermind behind last week's vicious double-murder.

Hundreds of officers have combed the island for the past three days to try and find murder suspect Bu Hua Cheng, 22, who is believed to be in hiding.

The police have not ruled out that he may have fled to the occupied areas.

Police have searched abandoned property, boats and farms in a concerted effort to apprehend the suspect.

Bu is described by police as extremely dangerous and still scarred over his right eye from his tussle with the victims. The public have been warned not to tackle him alone.

The twenty-two-year-old was named by his compatriot Wang Yang, 21, a fellow student now in police custody.

Apparently, Yang has confessed to the crime and named Bu as the one who planned the horrific murders in an alleged attempt to rob the victims of around $3,000.

Yang and Bu planned to leave the island by boat after committing the murders, Yang is said to have told police.

Wednesday, December 9, 1998

[10] Madden to be posted in Athens, replacement announced

Current High Commissioner David Madden will take over as British ambassador in Athens from next May, after more than four years on the island.

He will be replaced by John Martin CMG (Commander of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint John).

Martin served in Cyprus as head of the High Commission's political section from 1978 to 1982. His last ambassadorial post was Malawi.

Wednesday, December 9, 1998

[11] Spy trial postponed after changes to charge sheet

THE START of the Israeli spying trial was yesterday postponed by the Larnaca criminal court to allow the defence time to study changes to the charge sheet.

Suspected spies Udi Hargov, 37, and Igal Damary, 49, were expected to enter a plea before the criminal court on three counts, but proceedings were postponed at their lawyers' request.

Speaking before the three-judge bench, lawyer Andis Triantafyllides asked for more time to study the charges before his clients enter a plea, as he had only received the revised charges on Monday.

Court president Demetrios Hadjihambis agreed to an adjournment until December 21.

Although the two Israeli nationals stand accused of spying, conspiracy to commit espionage and possessing illegal electronic equipment, the charges have been rephrased in more general terms by the Attorney-general's office.

When the spying charge was originally read out in court on November 20 by a police prosecutor, it was alleged the two Israelis "collected information on the defence of the Republic and passed this on to another country via computer."

The new wording has apparently been watered down to: "Collecting information on military installations, which could have been useful to any other country."

The revised conspiracy charge was elaborated upon to specify that the offence took place not only in Cyprus but also Israel.

"The accused between October 15 and November 6 in Cyprus and in Israel conspired to spy against the Cyprus Republic with harmful intent," said the charge sheet, which was not read out in court yesterday.

It is the first time Israel has been mentioned in the espionage charges.

Possession of three illegal scanners connected to radio frequencies makes up the third charge.

Thirty witnesses have been listed for appearance by the prosecution, including intelligence experts and civilians.

Once Hargov and Damary enter a plea at the next hearing, their defence lawyers said they would request that bail be set. Until then, the Israelis will be kept in remand at Nicosia Central Prison.

Last month, a Larnaca District Court refused that the two be released on bail, despite guarantees by the Israeli embassy who wanted to take them into its custody.

Tight security surrounded the Israelis' brief appearance in court, and anti- terrorist police had to fend off the Israeli press pack who had flown in especially to cover the story.

Hargov and Damary - sporting beards grown while in detention and shell suit tops - seemed unfazed by the commotion and did not speak while in court.

They were arrested by police on November 7 at their flat in Zygi with scanners still connected to police frequencies.

Although Israel has denied that their nationals were spying for Turkey, it has not denied that they might have been working for Mossad.

Since their arrest, Cyprus-Israeli relations have hit a new low. The spy case followed hot on the heels of Israeli president Ezer Weizman's vain attempt to convince the government that his country's military alliance with Turkey posed no threat to the security of the Republic.

Weizman ended the first ever trip by an Israeli head of state to Cyprus just three days before the arrests.

Wednesday, December 9, 1998

[12] Extra shopping time in run-up to Christmas

This Sunday, December 13, shops will be open from 10am to 7pm.

From Tuesday December 15 to the 31st, normal shopping days will be stretched to 8pm.

On Sunday, December 20, Wednesdays December 23 and 30 and Saturday December 19, the shops will also stay open till 8pm.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1998

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