Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 98-12-19

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

Saturday, December 19, 1998

CONTENTS

[01] Death squad fears as second policeman remanded

[02] Bases cabaret warning still stands

[03] Free skies by 2003

[04] Michaelides report submitted to Attorney-general

[05] Recent rains are not enough

[06] 'We want more than just another resolution'

[07] Hunger-strikers extend their protest

[08] First Ombudswoman sworn in

[09] Cyprus joins fight against chemical weapons

[01] Death squad fears as second policeman remanded

THE SPECTRE of police "death squad" involvement in a series of gangland killings loomed large yesterday after fresh evidence was uncovered in the Hambis Aeroporos murder inquiry.

Police said ballistic tests had shown Hambis was shot dead with the same M58 automatic that was used to kill his younger brother Andros five months earlier.

Meanwhile, a second policeman - special constable Savvas Ioannou, alias Kinezos - was yesterday remanded in custody for eight days by Limassol District Court on suspicion of involvement in Wednesday's brutal murder of 35-year-old Hambis.

Following these developments, Justice Minister Nicos Koshis said there was a possibility of a connection between this case and older gangland hits in which policemen had been implicated.

"It is too early to say, too early to make a connection, but perhaps in time we will do," Koshis said.

Two years ago, investigators drew a blank when probing allegations that police "death squads" had been involved in the October 1995 murder of Onisiforos Onisiforou, alias Foris, and the attempted murder of Hambis Aeroporos, four months earlier.

Foris is the father of Hambis's cousin, Charalambos Onisiforou, who was with the victim in his car at the time of Wednesday's attack.

Attorney-general Alecos Markides was more cautious than Koshis, but did not preclude the possibility of re-opening the file on alleged police involvement in the 1995 killings if relevant evidence surfaced from the current murder investigation.

"If evidence that comes to light now can be combined with evidence from that time (1995) either for solving the recent crime or the older crimes, this is as issue we will study when the current investigation has been completed," Markides said. Police yesterday also made their fifth arrest in connection with the shooting.

Limassolian Prokopis Nicola Prokopi, 35, a former employee at the restaurant of the father of the first policeman remanded in connection with the killing, Christos Symianos, is expected in court today.

Symianos, 35, of the police air wing, nightclub owner Sotiris Athinis, 43, and his sister Zoe Alexandrou, a 51-year-old hospital cleaner, were remanded for eight days by Limassol District Court on Thursday.

Alexandrou was yesterday admitted to Limassol hospital under police guard after she complained of chest pains, police said.

Symianos, from Limassol, is said to be a close family friend of Athinis'. Athinis survived a bomb attack outside his club in August. His brother Melios, believed to have been a rival of the Aeroporos clan, was shot dead in November 1995.

According to police, all four suspects have been linked to Wednesday's murder by numbers logged in the memory of a mobile phone belonging to Alexandrou, which the gunmen left behind in the car they abandoned at the scene of the crime. Alexandrou claims she had her mobile stolen shortly before the murder.

Hambis was gunned down in broad daylight by three hooded hit-men on the old Ypsonas to Limassol road. His 30-year-old brother Andros was shot outside a Limassol cabaret on July 31, just weeks after he, Hambis and their brother Panicos, 25, were acquitted of the attempted murder of Larnaca gambling club owner Antonis Fanieros, 57, on May 29, 1997.

Police said ballistic tests carried out on cartridges and one of the automatics found at the scene of Wednesday's killing had shown the same M58 had been used to shoot Hambis and his brother Andros.

A police announcement also stated that case investigators had uncovered a cache of explosives at a flat in Yermasoyia.

During Kinezos's remand hearing, case investigator George Aristidou stated the suspect, detailed to Larnaca airport security, had made and received calls to and from the mobile phone found in the hit-mens' car.

Aristidou said Kinezos had also called Athinis and Symianos from his mobile around the time of the attack.

The investigator said the 33-year-old suspect had told police he rang Symianos on Tuesday night because he had got lost in Limassol on his way from Paphos to Larnaca and wanted directions. Aristidou said Kinezos's parents had provided him with an alibi for the time of the killing (11.30am), saying they had visited his home in Engomi, Nicosia, just after midday on Wednesday and found him asleep.

Police say Athinis, Symianos and Alexandrou also have alibis for the time of the murder.

Hambis' cousin Onisiforou, who survived the attack unscathed, has given police a description of the attackers and a name which he overheard one of them shout.

The survivor has recounted how Hambis saw the armed men following their car in a hire car. He said Hambis forced the hit-men's car into a roadside ditch along with his car in a vain attempt to evade the hit-men's fire.

The hit men made their get-away on foot.

The hire car used in the attack had been stolen from Larnaca airport last month.

Wednesday's killing is thought to be part of a long-running underworld feud between Larnaca and Limassol gangs vying for control of lucrative gambling, narcotics and prostitution rackets.

Koshis yesterday said police feared reprisals following Hambis's murder. "There is usually a reprisal but I hope the measures we are taking will prevent this," the minister said.

The underworld turf war has claimed a dozen lives in three years.

Saturday, December 19, 1998

[02] Bases cabaret warning still stands

But they say that a previous warning to avoid certain seedier haunts still very much stands in the wake of this week's daylight execution of Hambis Aeroporos, cut down by hooded gunmen on a busy road.

Police fear a wave of bloddletting in the wake of Wednesday's murder.

And while RAF pilots risk their lives in bombing sorties over Iraq, their colleagues in Cyprus could face equal dangers when stepping out for a pint.

"There are no plans to issue any additional guidance because of the shooting," bases spokesman Rob Need told the Cyprus Mail yesterday.

But the "stay away" advice given to the thousands of servicemen stationed in Larnaca and Limassol earlier this year still stands, said Need.

Concerned about the safety of off-duty soldiers, the bases issued advice after Hambis' brother, Andros, was gunned down outside a cabaret in July.

Need said yesterday that warnings issued then to servicemen not go to specific pubs, cabarets and tavernas, was still valid because "of the owners' associations with the underworld."

Although no fresh instructions are planned, it is understood that soldiers will be urged to remain extra vigilant when frequenting the seedier parts of town.

Saturday, December 19, 1998

[03] Free skies by 2003

CYPRUS has pledged to introduce full air transport liberalisation by 2003, the government announced yesterday.

In a written announcement, the government said the cabinet had approved the timeframe for the full liberalisation of air transport in Cyprus. The final date has been set for January 1, 2003.

The date it set to coincide with Cyprus' planned accession to the EU.

Liberalisation in the air transport sector is being gradually introduced. Charter flights to the island have already been liberalised, and British company Air 2000 operates scheduled flights without having a bilateral agreement with Cyprus Airways (CY).

Under full liberalisation and after January 1, 2003 it will be possible for any airline from any EU country to operate in and out of Cyprus without restriction. Technically this means that Lufthansa or KLM could operate flights between Larnaca and Athens, for example.

EasyJet, the UK-based low cost airline of Cypriot entrepreneur Stelios Hadjioannou has promised to bring cheap flights to Cyprus as early as next year. The airline has already targeted the Athens-London route under EU liberalisation, offering flights for £150 Sterling, less than half the usual fare.

If he begins operating out of Cyprus, fares to London would be similarly low and would provide stiff competition to Cyprus Airways.

CY spokesman Tassos Angelis said yesterday the national carrier was working on surviving the full force of liberalisation.

"That is why we are now starting to implement our strategic plan so that we can be viable and competitive to face the stiff competition," Angelis said. "This is the target, to cut costs."

Angelis said the parts of the plan being implemented did not involve the unions.

"It is not something we wish to impose," Angelis said. "We will discuss it with them."

Unions are opposed to the plan, which in addition to cost-cutting suggests reductions in staffing, salary cuts and wages freezes.

Saturday, December 19, 1998

[04] Michaelides report submitted to Attorney-general

Cabinet-appointed prosecutors George Stavrianakis and Andreas Shiakas yesterday submitted their findings to Attorney-general Alecos Markides.

Markides was guarded in his comments before receiving the report yesterday afternoon, saying only that he would study it over the weekend.

"I hope that by this Monday I will also have formed my final opinion."

After receiving the report, he declined to make any further comment.

Under the Council of Ministers' November decision, the investigators were instructed to give their reports to the Attorney-general for a final evaluation.

Markides said he did not need to advise the president on the issue as, under the constitution, he alone decides on whether there are grounds to prosecute.

"I will write about the report, as in every investigation, on what the position of the Attorney-general is," Markides said.

Michaelides is being investigated on two of the 14 unlawful enrichment allegations levelled against him by House Watchdog Committee chairman Christos Pourgourides.

Pourgourides refused to testify before the investigators, calling the probe a sham because President Clerides had turned down the minister's resignation.

However, Michaelides himself did return from his self-enforced absence in Athens to testify last week.

The minister has been in Greece on extended leave since the beginning of this month.

Stavrianakis and Shiakas' mandate was to investigate a case of alleged money laundering on the sale of a £96,000 flat and whether the minister illegally issued residence permits.

According to press reports, the investigation has cleared the minister of any wrong doing.

If no criminal action is determined, the case will not go before the Courts, Markides added, and Michaelides will be declared innocent of all charges.

Saturday, December 19, 1998

[05] Recent rains are not enough

THE STEADY rainfall of the last few weeks has not been enough to ease concern over the drought or to stop water rationing.

A senior Water Supply Authority official yesterday told the Cyprus Mail that water cuts were still made on the same days, but that the water supply now began two hours earlier than before, at around 8 pm.

He said the move had been made possible by the rain, which had lessened demand for dam water.

Another source at the Water Department yesterday confirmed the still-dire state of the island's water supply.

He told the Cyprus Mail that the current amount was "definitely not enough," and the situation remained "very worrying".

The amount of water needed for 1999 is 138 million cubic metres, he said. The amount of water in storage, and suitable for use, is currently only 15.6 million cubic metres, or 5.8 per cent of the dams' capacity.

At this time last year, the dams contained 28.8 million cubic meters, or 10.7 per cent of their capacity.

The source said that between October 1 and yesterday, water in the dams had increased by 2.9 million cubic metres, including 400,000 cubic meters in the last 24 hours.

Senior Meteorological Superintendent Klitos Piotis told the Cyprus Mail that 59 millimetres of rain had fallen so far this December, making up 56 per cent of the usual rainfall for the month.

Piotis said although there had been a lot of rain in some areas, like Paphos, there had not been enough on higher ground, where it is especially needed.

We need a lot more rain "to make the rivers flow and fill the dams," he continued, expressing cautious optimism that "the rain has been limited but more is expected".

Saturday, December 19, 1998

[06] 'We want more than just another resolution'

Speaking at his daily press briefing, government spokesman Christos Stylianides said developments were expected at the beginning of next week through a new UN resolution on the Cyprus problem. He said these developments would be judged by the National Council in co-operation with Athens, but added the resolution itself would not be enough this time.

"We feel a traditional belief in the assurances and resolutions isn't enough," Stylianides said, hinting that the government wants the UN Security Council somehow to come forward with a package, which will lead to progress on security issues.

The Security Council is due to deliberate on the Cyprus problem in the coming days. Depending on what it recommends, the government is willing to review its decision to deploy the controversial Russian S-300 missiles.

The Americans have put together a deal whereby the missile deployment would be halted in exchange for some promises that demilitarisation would begin and intercommunal talks resume.

"The government is ready to discuss a postponement... once we enter into a process with a view to making progress on the fundamental issues," Stylianides said.

However, he added there was a possibility that the current US-UK military strikes against Iraq may delay the deliberations of the Security Council.

Saturday, December 19, 1998

[07] Hunger-strikers extend their protest

DESPITE the rain, the cold and the concrete "bed", Matthew and Olga Stowell are stretching their hunger-strike at the Ledra Palace Green Line checkpoint through today, then plan to protest outside the US Embassy against US human rights "hypocrisy".

"We'll be back," Matthew said. "The women here asked us to come back," he said of the black-dressed widows in perpetual Green Line vigil for their dead and missing in Turkey's invasion.

He had "no idea" if the US Embassy would tolerate him and his wife sandwich- boarding outside, what with security beefed up since US embassy bombings in Africa, and now that US forces are bombing Iraq. And he has no bail money, either, he laughed.

But Matthew is no stranger to being busted for his beliefs. He said he spent eight months in a US Army brig - even blew an appointment to the prestigious West Point military academy - out of opposition to the Vietnam War.

But based on the kindly care the police have offered the couple during their three-day fast in solidarity with Greek Cyprus, if he is busted for his US Embassy protest, he'll likely get the jail's "presidential suite".

"The weather hasn't been good," since they began their hunger-strike on Wednesday, "and we haven't seen that many people," he said. As well, the "concrete floor" of a Green Line building has been a cold bed. Their sole shelter from the weather has been a high canvas canopy, and even that leaks a bit.

"But the Cypriot people here have been wonderful," he said. "These groups of women have brought blankets and everything we could possibly need. And the police have offered the same kind of help."

For Matthew, the problem is two sides of the same coin: "The people in Cyprus don't realise that the American people in general don't know anything about Cyprus and the Cyprus problem." As for the American people, "they have no idea that there is a problem in Cyprus. When they see this, they are surprised," he said, of the signs and photographs of Turkey's invasion at the checkpoint.

"I have no idea," if the hunger-strike will enlighten anyone, he said. "But we felt we had to do something. And I also wanted to show people in Cyprus that there is at least one American who is concerned and wants to do something about it."

"Shall we say that the big fish shall eat the small one and do nothing about it, and just forget it?" asked Olga. "We can't. We'd like to be free. I'd like to be free to walk in my own country," said Olga, who was born in Limassol. "I never forget my country," despite living in Canada since 1969, she said.

"The American people are proud of their government. If they knew, they would push their government to do the right thing in Cyprus," Olga said.

America "could just help to enforce the UN resolutions that were passed just after the invasion that call for the withdrawal of Turkey from Cyprus, " Matthew said. "We feel something can be done."

"America is the only superpower left. They do have some influence. They use the basis of violating UN resolutions as the basis of attacking countries, like Iraq. When other countries (violate human rights), nothing happens. Israel has also violated UN resolutions. Nothing happens there. We're fed up," he said.

"At least stop supporting them (Turkey)," Olga suggested, "because I think that if they felt that they were alone," Turkey might be more inclined to leave Cyprus. "They feel like they have help," with US backing - or minimally, toleration - so they stay.

Matthew said Cypriots - "and there people here with a lot of money" - ought to buy the kind of "advertising blitz" that Turkey is buying in the New York Times, in order to call attention to Turkey's occupation of the island.

"People here give a certain amount of their taxes that are supposed to promote Cyprus and let the world know about Cyprus," Matthew said. "We've talked to people here that are frustrated. Their money is going to that, but they don't see this happening to their money."

"Cypriots have said to us that perhaps the Cyprus government does not want the US and other Western countries to know that there is a problem in Cyprus, because it may hurt tourism," he said.

Matthew said he was finishing a screenplay, and as soon as he returns to Montreal, where the couple recently moved from New York City, he plans to begin another for a movie - not a documentary, but a story - to dramatise the Cyprus problem in the way movies about Ireland have.

Saturday, December 19, 1998

[08] First Ombudswoman sworn in

She was sworn in by President Glafcos Clerides at a special ceremony held at the Presidential Palace. Attending were Justice Minister Nicos Koshis, Attorney-general Alecos Markides, Under Secretary Pantelis Kouros and former Ombudsman Nicos Charalambos, whom Nicolaou is replacing. He has been appointed as Assistant Attorney-general.

Clerides noted the fact that Nicolaou was a woman, and wished her luck in her new role. Clerides' daughter Kate is an active Disy Deputy.

Nicolaou studied law in Athens and worked as a lawyer until her 1981 appointment to the position of legal assistant at the Supreme Court. In 1990, she became Family Court judge in 1990 and moved up to become its president in 1993.

Saturday, December 19, 1998

[09] Cyprus joins fight against chemical weapons

The decision, announced yesterday, was taken on Wednesday morning, just hours before the US and Britain launched missile strikes against Iraq in a bid to diminish Saddam Hussein's chemical and biological weapons stockpile.

The cabinet has appointed a ministerial committee tasked to draw up legal amendments and regulations for control of movement of suspect substances through Cyprus.

The Australian Team was set up in the wake of the Iran-Iraq war and currently has 31 members, including the US, Japan, Australia and EU countries.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1998

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