Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 98-12-23

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

Wednesday, December 23, 1998

CONTENTS

[01] 'Let God judge Mr Pourgourides'

[02] Paphos bishop insists Synod must pursue his allegations

[03] 1998 set to become record tourism year

[04] Final Akamas decision in six months

[05] DNA evidence links suspect to scene of Aeroporos murder

[06] Bank prints £60 million to cover Xmas cash demand

[07] Clerides handling is 'beyond reproach'

[08] Cyprus grants Swiss Marcuard Cook IBU licence

[09] Second tourist dies of crash injuries

[10] Full computerisation plan for personal information

[01] 'Let God judge Mr Pourgourides'

INTERIOR Minister Dinos Michaelides yesterday played on public sympathy, saying he had been vindicated following corruption allegations, and promised not to gloat over his accuser, Disy deputy Christos Pourgourides.

In an ironic twist, Disy leader Nicos Anastassiades suggested Pourgourides should publicly apologise to Michaelides, who made it clear yesterday that he wished to retain his ministerial post.

But Pourgourides maintains that, although cleared legally but in his opinion wrongly, the Minister should still pay some political price.

Michaelides was cleared by Attorney-general Alecos Markides on Monday on two counts related to possible criminal charges, following four months of investigations.

But the Minister may still have to answer for possible offences relating to at least five immigration cases, which could carry a political cost. There is also a chance he could be investigated for tax evasion and allegations relating to land deals.

Yesterday, Michaelides publicly read out an extraordinary three-page statement recounting his four-month "ordeal", bemoaning his treatment at the hands of his "tormentors" as "humiliating" and "unfair".

"I'm assured there was nothing illegal done by me, and this has vindicated my confidence that the truth would come out during a period of investigation," Michaelides said. "But it was a humiliating procedure for me."

The Minister said this "year of trial" had brought him close to taking his entire family and leaving Cyprus forever.

"I consciously decided to remain standing and to prove the truth," Michaelides said, adding that his name had been "trampled on" as he "fought completely alone", subjected to "suspicion and rejection, whispers and innuendo."

"Today Mr Pourgourides' claims have collapsed," Michaelides said.

"The facts, according to the Attorney-general, are that there is not the slightest indication that white could be black."

But Michaelides said he would not gloat over his accuser, Pourgourides. The Disy deputy's claims led to the Minister being investigated on 14 charges, later reduced to two after a preliminary investigation by the Auditor- general.

"I will not allow myself to give back what I got. But the God Mr Pourgourides so often calls upon knows and judges," Michaelides said alluding to the Disy deputy's religious tendencies.

"It was a terrible trial and I would never wish it to happen even to my worst enemy," he said.

Disy leader Anastassiades suggested Pourgourides owed the Minster a public apology if all of his claims were eventually proved groundless.

Speaking after a meeting with President Clerides, Anastassiades said the conclusions reached by the Auditor-general and the Attorney-general should be respected.

"I am not addressing anyone. What I'm saying is that in the end everyone has to be conscious of the need to set the right example of political behaviour, which makes the recognition of mistakes necessary," he said.

Asked if Michaelides could face a political cost, the Disy leader said: "What political consequences can anyone face when the are not facing a criminal case? We can't sling mud unless when the investigation is over we have the same political courage (to apologise)."

The government said yesterday it stood behind the decision of the Attorney- general one hundred per cent, but Pourgourides called the entire investigation a farce.

"The right outcome could never have come out of the investigation because the minister stayed on in his post," Pourgourides said.

Asked if he blamed the Attorney-general, he replied: "Yes, he did have some responsibility. The Attorney-general allowed Michaelides to stay in his post."

"Markides is supposed to be the guardian of the law, and under the constitution is supposed to take all the necessary measures to make sure investigations have results. He was obliged in my opinion at least to suggest to the President that the minister be removed while the investigation was going on."

Wednesday, December 23, 1998

[02] Paphos bishop insists Synod must pursue his allegations

NEW REVELATIONS by the Bishop of Paphos yesterday hit the ball back into the Holy Synod's court, after they had cleared a senior cleric accused by the bishop on Monday.

After a marathon session on Monday, the Synod threw out allegations of immorality against Limassol Bishopric candidate Abbot Athanasios of Machairas over his association with

elder Iosif of the Greek Monastery of Vatopedhi, whom Bishop Chrysostomos has claimed is a 'pervert'.

However, the Synod said there was scope for further investigation against Iosif, who is accused of molesting and 'infecting' seven Paphos nuns 17 years ago when he was in Cyprus.

Two Church investigators have already been appointed by the Synod.

The allegations against both clerics were made by Bishop Chrysostomos of Paphos, based on the testimony he received.

An announcement from the Archbishopric last Thursday blamed a defrocked Greek nun for the allegations, stating she had "deceived" the Paphos Bishop into making the claims.

The statement was issued after Archbishop Chrysostomos held separate meetings with his namesake from Paphos and archimandrite Efrem, abbot of Vatopedhi.

But Bishop Chrysostomos told a Paphos radio station yesterday that the defrocked nun had not been his source.

Speaking to local station, Radio Kosmos, the Bishop said he said he had given the names of two other witness to the Holy Synod.

He said the Synod had apparently decided that one of these witnesses, a priest, was also an unreliable source, and that he couldn't understand on what basis the Synod had decided the witnesses in the case were unreliable.

"I was called on Monday and I testified on all the evidence I have in my hands with every detail," he said referring to the Iosif case.

He said the Synod listened to him and noted two names of witnesses and decided to investigate.

Referring to Athanasios, the Bishop said he revealed to the Synod what he had been told by his sources.

"My source, a priest was considered unreliable," Chrysostomos said. "If a priest is unreliable, is a liar and got me involved and others involved, how was I supposed to know? I don't have the ability to read minds. My information was from the source. I said what I knew and I demand that the Synod takes responsibility now."

He suggested the Synod had done its best to discredit the defrocked nun as a reliable witness and refused to reveal his other source for fear the same thing would happen to her.

"She was a witness against Iosif," he said. "I didn't want to mention her because it wasn't her that informed me. Two nuns visited me and they told me what happened. I didn't get her involved. She got involved for other reasons."

On Wednesday, Chrysostomos had offered an apology for making the sordid allegations against Iosif, but insisted his claims were true.

He has consistently denied that his allegations have anything to do with his opposition to Athanasios's candidacy for Bishop of Limassol. The elections to the bishopric - which has been vacant since former bishop Chrysanthos resigned over allegations of massive international fraud - will take place in the New Year.

Wednesday, December 23, 1998

[03] 1998 set to become record tourism year

WITH ONLY A little over a week left of the year, a total of about 2.23 million tourists are forecast to have visited the island in 1998, a seven per cent increase over last year, the Cyprus Tourism Organisation said yesterday.

The performance of the vital tourism sector in 1998 is particularly impressive considering the negative impact the Russian financial crisis has had on arrivals from the former communist country.

The number of the big-spending Russian tourists coming to Cyprus has been steadily rising in recent years, leading tourism planners to pin much hope on their business. But Russia's economic woes have changed all this and tourism from Russia and other former Soviet republics fell by 10.7 per cent in 1998.

But thanks to a strong sterling and a continuing love affair between the British holidaymakers and Cyprus, tourists from Britain have saved the day for the island's tourism industry.

Attracted by right-hand side driving, widely-spoken English, bilingual signposts and English-style pubs and eateries, the number of Britons who visited Cyprus rose by a whooping 20.6 per cent in January-November 1998 over the same period last year.

Preliminary figures from Britain indicate that there will be an increase of about 25 per cent in bookings next year, but exact figures would not be known before early next year.

The Finance Ministry's Department of Statistics and Research, meanwhile, said in a report issued yesterday that tourist arrivals last month reached 105,773, a decline of 4.8 per cent compared to the same month in 1997.

The number of tourists arriving on the island in the January to November period, however, rose by 6.8 per cent to 2.13 million, up from 2.00 million in the first 11 months of 1997.

As usual, Britons accounted for 47.3 per cent of all tourists arriving on the island last month, followed by Germans with 16.1 per cent and Russians with 4.7 per cent, the department said.

Tourism accounts for nearly 20 per cent of the island's GDP and is the single biggest employer. Its status as the motor of the services-based economy has tempted some economists to warn against excessive dependence on tourism, given its vulnerability to political developments.

Wednesday, December 23, 1998

[04] Final Akamas decision in six months

AGRICULTURE Minister Costas Themistocleous has pledged a final decision within six months for Akamas villagers, who oppose limits imposed by a National Park plan on the development of their prime coastal property, a senior official said yesterday.

Themistocleous, who also holds the Natural Resources and Environment briefs, got a first-hand earful on Monday at the Yialia Forest Station from the residents of the six Akamas area villages affected by the National Forest plan, Environmental Services Director Nicos Georgiades said yesterday.

His face-to-face meeting aimed at helping him brief a ministerial committee on the Akamas Plan that he chairs, and which he plans to convene immediately after the holidays, Georgiades said.

"The basic outcome of that meeting is that the minister undertook a responsibility and a promise that within a timetable of six months, final decisions are going to be reached" on villagers' rights to private property development versus the public interest in a future Akamas National Forest, Georgiades said.

This will involve "a series of intensive meetings" with each village, after the January ministerial committee is convened. A final report from the village and committee meetings will go to the Council of Ministers for a final decision, Georgiades said.

The villagers are "very, very strongly against" the strict protection of some Akamas peninsula areas, and development allowed in others, as recommended by a World Bank study a few years ago on managing the Akamas Peninsula, Georgiades said.

In gearing up for his January committee meeting, he said, Themistocleous has on his desk not only the World Bank plan, but also "return comments" deriving from debate in Parliament, and discussion by village communities, non-governmental organisations and government agencies given copies of the plan.

Georgiades said the villagers "are basically opposed to the strict protection accorded to the area outside the boundaries of the state forest" proposed by the World Bank plan for an Akamas National Park. "So they don't want the National Park."

"What they are saying is: 'If you want a National Park, you should have it in the state forest, and there should be mild development of private property'" elsewhere in the Akamas Peninsula, he explained.

The villagers are interested in "their own property, and the (development) restrictions proposed or not proposed in the plan, because the plan does not follow the model of intensive coastal tourist development" of Ayia Napa or Limassol, he said. "It has rejected this model."

While abjuring similar intensive tourist development, the villagers want "a mild, as they call it, coastal development of their property," Georgiades said.

Faced with "this divergence of opinions," Themistocleous wanted to learn at first-hand "what are their basic concerns... so as better to brief the ministerial committee" next month.

Aiding the committee will be an Environmental Services analysis of the issues, and parliamentary recommendations that urge consensus on what should happen in the area.

The villagers want to keep development rights, and do not want cash compensation either for restriction of these rights, or for the government's purchase of their private property, Georgiades said. "What they want is to keep their property."

They are saying: "'We don't want you to take the properties and compensate us for it, but to exchange this land for other land outside the (proposed national) forest, for example,'" he said.

"The basic concern is that the villages are prepared to enter into intensive talks with the government after the January meeting" of the ministerial committee, Georgiades said, so that Themistocleous' six-month pledge can bear fruit.

Wednesday, December 23, 1998

[05] DNA evidence links suspect to scene of Aeroporos murder

A police statement yesterday said that DNA testing on a piece of evidence found at the murder scene had been connected to one of the suspects.

The suspect was not named in the statement, which continued that police investigations were progressing in light of this new evidence and other leads.

Hambis Aeroporos was shot dead last Wednesday afternoon in Limassol.

Five people, including two policemen, have been arrested in connection with the shooting.

Meanwhile, Antonis Fanieros was formally charged and released yesterday after being arrested the previous night.

Hambis and his two brothers Andros and Panicos had been charged with his attempted murder but were acquitted earlier this year. Andros was gunned down weeks later. Evidence from Hambis' murder has shown the same weapon was used to kill both brothers.

Fanieros is accused of having threatened Larnaca farmer Spyros Theodorou, alias Mantis.

According to police reports, Theodorou said that Fanieros had intimidated him with the words: "You went to the Aeroporos' party when they shot me, now I'm going to shoot you."

Wednesday, December 23, 1998

[06] Bank prints £60 million to cover Xmas cash demand

BANKS in Cyprus say they have a grip on the cash-crunch that is prematurely emptying some of their automated teller machines (ATMs), as Cypriots race to the Christmas Season finish line, lured by discounts for cash versus credit cards.

The Central Bank is dispensing between £40 million and £60 million in extra cash to Cyprus banks this month to cover the Christmas cash demand. This is over and above the £10 to £15 million per month it normally ships them, George Thoma, manager of domestic banking operations, said yesterday.

"It is a seasonal pattern. Always during the Christmas period and the Easter period, there is a large increase in the demand for cash," Thoma said. "We are ready to supply the banking system with all the cash they need."

"There is no limit, there is no ceiling. All the cash they need. All they have to do is come to the Central Bank, and they'll get all the cash they need," Thoma said.

Like many Cypriots, Thoma said,"I like cash myself. It has its own merits," especially its immediacy in cancelling any indebtedness for a purchase. And there are the cash discounts.

Some branch bank ATMs are regularly running out of money, especially those in central city shopping areas, some bankers candidly admitted. But most said they were filling their ATMs to maximum capacity and were handling the cash calls.

"Usually in December, we expect to have more cash withdrawals than in other months," Doros Ktorides, of Popular Bank said, "so we fill them up. Usually there is no problem.

"Now it is an extended holiday, so we may have to come to some machines and fill them up again," even over the holiday weekend, he said.

"But we'll just put more money in the machines. It's peak time."

Hellenic Bank's Yiannis Xenides acknowledged his bank's ATMs were getting "three times more use" this month than normal, but did not expect them to run out of money.

He said, however, that Hellenic Bank also planned to have crews on stand-by to fill or repair any ATMs that run out of money or malfunction over this three-day extended weekend.

One Bank of Cyprus official admitted she had encountered one of her own bank's ATMs that had run dry at the weekend. She thanked the Cyprus Mail for the phone call, as it reminded her to report the ATMs malfunction to her own bank.

Michaelis Katsambas, the Bank of Cyprus' card centre and ATMs manager, said, his bank's ATM's were "quite busy" last weekend, the busiest for pre- Christmas shopping. "We did not run out of cash in any machines, because we loaded the maximum" cash.

He said the shortage his employee encountered was probably a mechanical malfunction. "We are again going to load all the machines with the maximum amount," even though this weekend will probably be slower than last.

"We do not expect to run out of cash (and) do not plan to" have stand-by cash crews, he said. "With the union agreements, it's not easy to have someone on-call over Christmas.

"We will have someone monitoring the machines," so that if many ATMs in one area start to malfunction or run out of cash, staff will be dispatched to fix the problem, Katsambas said. But isolated empty machines will just stay empty until banks open.

Wednesday, December 23, 1998

[07] Clerides handling is 'beyond reproach'

Speaking after a meeting with President Glafcos Clerides, Anastassiades said negotiations were at a delicate stage. But he added that Clerides' handling of the situation was "beyond reproach" and that, he hoped, there would soon be results, with greater security for Cyprus, leading up to demilitarisation.

The Security Council is due to pass resolutions on Cyprus later this month, which - if they satisfy certain security concerns - could give the government an excuse to back down on the controversial S-300 missiles it has ordered from Russia and which Turkey threatens to destroy.

Also speaking yesterday, government spokesman Christos Stylianides said that there were pressures on Cyprus, but gave no details of what these might be. At the centre of current consultations, he said, were the issues of security and the Cyprus problem itself.

On the issue of UN resolutions on Cyprus, he said it was still not yet known when the Security Council would meet, but that it should be before the end of the year.

Wednesday, December 23, 1998

[08] Cyprus grants Swiss Marcuard Cook IBU licence

The branch, to deal only in foreign currencies and with other non-resident bodies and individuals, will be supervised by the Central Bank of Cyprus and the Federal Banking Commission of Switzerland.

Beside asset management, Marcuard Cook also specialises in investment consultancy and is active on capital markets, according to a Central Bank statement.

A total of 34 business licences for international banking units have so far been granted by the Central Bank in addition to five permits for representative offices of foreign banks.

Wednesday, December 23, 1998

[09] Second tourist dies of crash injuries

American Renn Aviva Kaufmann, 76, died at Larnaca General Hospital of injuries sustained in the accident.

The crash happened late last Saturday night when the Hyundai in which Tofts, Kaufmann and four others were travelling collided with a Mitsubishi Pajero on the Lefkara to Skarinou road. Tofts was also a passenger in the car, which was driven by 41-year-old Israeli Gadi Geffen.

Wednesday, December 23, 1998

[10] Full computerisation plan for personal information

An Interior Ministry statement yesterday announced that the new computer system would register birth and death certificates, issue identification 'smart cards', passports, voting books and refugee identity cards.

Under the system, new-born children will be given a 'Personal Identification Number'. Information will be put on file from birth including data on passports, identity cards etc.

This will make additional services, including family trees and information on adoption, possible.

Computerisation will give all government offices access to non-confidential information on every citizen.

Photos of the citizen will also be available on the new system reducing the possibility of forgery.

The Smart Cards will be used as identity cards, hospital cards, and access to planned 'Information Kiosks' providing business and market data to the public.

The new system will effectively make the filling out of forms unnecessary as applicants will only have to quote their Personal Identification Number to make their individual information available.

The government describes the computerisation as an important step in the technological upgrading of the island.

Tenders for the computer system to operate the upgrade had been put out in July 1996. The company selected is Anderson Consulting S.A.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1998

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