Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 99-06-22

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

Tuesday, June 22, 1999

CONTENTS

[01] Airline strike showdown

[02] Bomb threat at the US embassy

[03] Guarded welcome for G8 resolution

[04] Brill meets Clerides over Kyprianou 'snub'

[05] Jet-ski owners call for new talks with government

[06] Cabinet calls for disciplinary action on wrongful deportations

[07] Suspect confesses to dam murder

[08] Government backs down on defence levy plea

[09] Electrician admits planting Larnaca bombs

[10] Woman charged with stabbing father

[11] Turkish Cypriot defendants want Clerides to testify against Denktash

[12] Demetriou holds off Prodromou's Disy challenge

[13] Larnaca port workers threaten to strike again

[14] Autopsy confirms British women killed by carbon monoxide

[15] Rolandis seeks £2 million for Miss Universe

[16] Two held after drugs chase

[17] Russian drowns in swimming pool

[18] Man killed in Sunday crash

[01] Airline strike showdown

OVER 3,000 travellers will be affected today by a 24-hour Cyprus Airways (CY) strike, which began at midnight as part of a row over pilot promotions.

Eleven flights have been affected, CY spokesman Tassos Angelis said, but he said the airline had been working flat out to reschedule all passengers before the strike began.

Almost 30 of CY's 100-plus pilots belong to the airline's biggest union Cynika. They do not support the strike and are reporting for duty as usual.

Angelis said CY had also leased an aircraft to ease the difficulties, and had sought the assistance of other airlines to take passengers to their destinations.

"We have made special arrangements but there will be some inconvenience," he said. "Some flights have been delayed and some will leave earlier than scheduled. All passengers have been informed".

Three London and three Athens flights are affected, as well as the flights to Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, Beirut and Amman.

Angelis estimated the strike would cost the airline hundreds of thousands of pounds in lost revenue.

A Pasipy spokesman told the Cyprus Maillast night that if their demands were not met "we will definitely proceed to escalate (the measures)." He did not foresee an 11th hour suspension of measures, he said, "unless there was a dramatic move by the company."

"It is illegal what they have done," said Angelis. He said there could be no discussion as long as strike action was pending.

The strike was also condemned by the Communications and Works Minister Leondios Ierodiaconou, who said it was "unjustifiable" and called on Pasipy to reconsider its action.

He said the strike would be destructive for the company and for Cyprus in general. "Actions like this strike torpedo efforts with unpredictable and incalculable consequences," he said.

Pasipy claims it was the company that provoked them into action by reneging on a deal to freeze vacancies in the airline's charter arm Eurocypria until agreement was reached between all three pilots' unions on how they should be filled.

The agreement to hold a dialogue on promotions was reached under the auspices of the Communications and Works Minister last year. However, a separate agreement dating from 1994 exists between Eurocypria pilots and CY management -- and also signed by Pasipy -- which clearly states that promotions in the charter firm should go to its pilots.

Eurocypria pilots were themselves threatening industrial action because management was stalling on the agreement, and Pasipy insisted the dialogue be completed before the vacancies were filled.

CY claims the dialogue collapsed on June 1 this year and that

with posts that urgently had to be filled, the company last Friday advertised two captain vacancies in CY and three in Eurocypria. A day later Pasipy, said it would strike.

A company source said last night: "We did not expect it. We did not fill any posts. We just advertised the vacancies. They should have waited."

Pasipy tells a different story.

"There was no indication the dialogue was not getting anywhere," said a union spokesman. "We had presented our complete view as a union. In fact it was agreed that common seniority could become one way of solving the problem."

Eurocypria pilots said yesterday they still expected CY to honour their collective agreement and fill the vacancies from their ranks.

A company source said that Eurocypria pilots had not even shown up at the June 1 meeting, and that the Cynika pilots had had their own agenda and that there was to be no deal unless all three unions agreed.

CY engineers union Asyseka and breakaway cabin crew union Sypkka supports the Pasipy strikers, but the action has been condemned by various quarters in the tourist industry.

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Tuesday, June 22, 1999

[02] Bomb threat at the US embassy

At around 10.20pm, an unknown person telephoned Sigma, Logos and Antenna, claiming they had planted a bomb in the vicinity of the embassy, police said.

The area around the building, in the suburb of Engomi, was immediately cordoned off, and combed by dozens of Special Branch officers with sniffer dogs.

Checks were still ongoing at midnight, but police told the Cyprus Mailthat the call was thought to be a hoax. Police could not say whether the embassy building had been evacuated.

The US embassy has in recent months been the target of regular demonstrations by anti-Nato protesters, angry at the alliance's air war against Yugoslavia. It was not clear last night if the caller had given any motive for the threat.

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Tuesday, June 22, 1999

[03] Guarded welcome for G8 resolution

THE GOVERNMENT yesterday offered a cautious official welcome to Sunday's G8 resolution on Cyprus, though privately it is understood to be pleased with the group's call for direct talks without preconditions.

Spokesman Costas Serezis said the government would not be responding at this time, and would only position itself after a relevant UN resolution.

"What I can tell you is that when we say that all issues will be on the table, this is something that satisfies the Greek Cypriot side. This is something we asked for," he said.

"This does not mean a danger of the Turkish side tabling a confederation proposal because this is not in the UN resolutions."

However, Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash insisted yesterday the talks should include his demand for a confederation.

He said he would evaluate any possible invitation by the UN in line with the G8 call, but ruled out the idea of his being treated as a mere "community leader".

"We have played this game before. We both went into talks as leaders and as soon as we walked out Clerides became my government and I walked out as leader of my community," Denktash said.

"There is nothing more (to be discussed) than our suggestion of a confederation. Clerides says he won't talk about it. If he won't talk abut it then what are we going to talk about?"

At a summit in Cologne on Sunday, the seven most industrialised nations and Russia urged the United Nations to invite the two sides to talks in the autumn.

The G8 resolution says that the Cyprus problem has gone unresolved for too long and that a solution would not only benefit the people of Cyprus, but also contribute to peace and stability in the region.

It also recognises that both parties to the dispute have legitimate concerns "that can and must be addressed", and urges the UN Secretary- general to invite the leaders of the two communities to negotiations.

The negotiations would probably take place in the US at the beginning of October. The resolution calls on the two leaders to give their full support to comprehensive negotiations with no preconditions, all issues on the table, commitment in good faith to continue until a settlement is reached and full consideration of relevant UN resolutions and treaties.

In relation to the latter part of the resolution, the final draft is seen by the Greek Cypriot side as an improvement to the draft put before the G8 on Saturday.

That stated that UN resolutions on Cyprus should be used as a "reference point" in future direct talks between the two sides.

The wording sent the Greek Cypriot side scrambling for last-minute changes because it was seen by observers as an attempt to mollify the Turkish side's strong objections to the G8 involvement on Cyprus.

Cypriot diplomatic sources told the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) in Cologne on Sunday that the wording was an improvement on the earlier draft.

"We now have the appropriate G8 involvement through the UN Secretary- general," the source said.

Western diplomats in Nicosia yesterday welcomed the G8 initiative.

US ambassador Kenneth Brill said the G8 statement spoke for itself. "It would be presumptuous for a diplomat to try and interpret the words of the presidents of the eight richest nations," he said.

"The G8 has been talking about Cyprus for a number of years and the summit's statement, which I think is useful and underscores the interest of the leading countries of the world, to resume a comprehensive negotiations process. It is certainly something that we endorse and we look forward to moving for."

Commenting on the reaction of the Turkish Cypriot leader, Brill said there had been negative reactions from various quarters. "If everybody reacted positively to everything we wouldn't be here talking about it," he said.

The G8 resolution was also welcomed by new British High Commissioner Edward Clay. Speaking after a meeting with President Clerides, Clay said: "We are very glad to see the declaration, which we hope will strengthen the arm of the United Nations, first of all when the Security Council deals with Cyprus, as they must do, next week."

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Tuesday, June 22, 1999

[04] Brill meets Clerides over Kyprianou 'snub'

Kyprianou insists that Brill's refusal to meet with him to discuss American criticism of opposition views on Nato's bombing of Yugoslavia was a snub not only to him but to the island as a whole. He later said that he would have declared Brill persona non grataif he was president.

Brill refused comment on the issue as he left the Presidential Palace yesterday, limiting his statements to the G8's intervention in the Cyprus problem.

"I have been here for three years, and I have come out for these sessions for three years, and have I ever told what we talked about?" a smiling Brill told reporters after his 40-minute meeting with Clerides.

"I don't get into the details of my discussions with the President," added Brill, who is scheduled to leave his post in August if the US Senate confirms the nomination of his successor Donald Bandler.

Reports suggested, however, yesterday that Clerides had raised the dispute with Brill, and that the President would be discussing the problem with Kyprianou again.

On Friday, Kyprianou met with Clerides to present the President with party opinions on the issue, telling reporters that Clerides would highlight the issue yesterday: "The President... will give particular emphasis on the fact that the Ambassador of the US refused to meet with the Acting- president of the Republic," Kyprianou said on Friday.

With President Clerides away on a state visit to China, Kyprianou called on Brill earlier this month to protest American embassy criticism of the anti- Nato stance of his own Diko party and communist Akel. Both parties claim the comments are an unacceptable interference in Cyprus' domestic politics.

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Tuesday, June 22, 1999

[05] Jet-ski owners call for new talks with government

ANGRY jet-ski operators from all over Cyprus gathered last night at the main offices of Povek (the Union of Small Businessmen and Retailers) to plan their next moves in opposing new restrictions on their hours and sites of operation.

In the end, the 35 owners opted by unanimous vote not to strike for the time being, and to reopen negotiations with the government over their grievances.

The operators instructed their lawyers to meet Tourism Minister Nicos Rolandis, Communications Minister Leondios Ieordiaconou and House President Spyros Kyprianou, saying there would be no strike unless the government spurned the opportunity they were being given.

The island's water sports operators are bristling under a new law's reduced hours of operation -- between 10am to 1pm, and 4pm to 7pm -- Cyprus Water Sports Association President George Dimitriou told the Cyprus Mailyesterday.

Before the new law's June 11 passage by the House of Representatives, operators could rent jet-skis and other water-sports craft from dawn to sunset.

Demetriou said the operators also resented Ierodiaconou's consolidating their rental sites to the margins of sandy swimming beaches, versus their old sites every 500 hundred metres or so along the coast.

The government made the twin changes in reaction to at least three ski-jet accidents last year that killed one British tourist and seriously injured three others.

"Oh, yes, we have had complaints," from water sports operators, Melios Georgiou, general-secretary of Povek, told the Cyprus Mailyesterday. "They are not too happy about the shorter hours. They are also not happy about the movement of the (sea-access) corridors," he said.

The jet-ski operators have twice this year massed outside the Presidential Palace to protest against the changes before they became official.

Glafcos Karyiolou, a Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) employee who helped draw up the changes, confirmed that the CTO had received complaints from at least one hotel, the Venus Beach in Paphos.

Memnos Sophocleous, Venus Beach Front Office Manager, said yesterday the corridor restrictions had caused some problems for his hotel, since its contracts with tour operators promised water sports rentals closer to the hotel than the "one place for water sports" in Paphos, now some distance down the beach from the hotel.

"Unfortunately... the guys are very upset and they are out of control," Cyprus Water Sports Association President George Dimitriou told the Cyprus Mailyesterday. "We cannot hold them any more to legal procedure to gain our demands," he added.

"If we can find some way to continue negotiating, we can end this," he said. "(But) most of the people... want to burn the municipality, they want to kill the police. They want to go to extremes," he added.

Dimitriou, who rents out jet-skis at the Four Seasons Hotel in Amathus, said last night's Povek meeting sought to give his membership copies of the new rule changes and "cool them down as much as possible, and make them realise the law is the law, and altogether we have to figure out what to do to minimise the problem."

"Yes, we agree with the government that certain things need to be done. Fair enough. There is some logic to it. But there's no logic at all to trying to put this law in action within 24 hours," he said.

"You cannot tell a person (whose business ways) you have accepted for eight years ... within 24 hours: 'Mister, you are out of a job'. His employees, his family, his finances, his bank debts. Who is going to pay all this money? Who is going to look after all these people? This is our major problem," Dimitriou said.

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Tuesday, June 22, 1999

[06] Cabinet calls for disciplinary action on wrongful deportations

THE COUNCIL of Ministers has referred for disciplinary action by the Justice and Interior ministries an investigation report into the wrongful deportation of two Senegalese computer professionals, government officials confirmed yesterday.

The Cabinet had ordered the Interior Ministry to conduct the investigation, in co-operation with the Attorney-general, to determine whether the authorities broke any laws in their treatment of Agdou Khadre Diop, 25, and El Hadji Malick Sakho, 33 when they tried to visit Cyprus for a seminar on March 1.

The deportations, first reported by The Sunday Mail, spurred the Cabinet to apologise to the two black African men for being accused by Larnaca Airport Immigration Police of scheming to stay illegally in Cyprus, despite valid documentation, and being deported by Chief Migration Officer Christodoulos Nicolaides.

Cabinet Secretary Chrysostomos Sofianos and Interior Ministry Administrative Officer George Theodorou confirmed reports yesterday by Politisand Phileleftherosthat the Cabinet had referred Theodorou's 20-page report to the Justice and Interior ministries for action.

Neither Sofianos nor Theodorou would reveal the report's contents, insisting only the Interior Minister or his permanent secretary had the authority to release it.

Sofianos would only say the report was "brought before the Cabinet during the last session... (on Thursday, and) there was some responsibility attributed to some civil servants -- I cannot specify -- some people who dealt with this issue."

The Cabinet referred the report "to the Ministry of Justice and Public Order for the (immigration) police officers (involved), and for the civilians, it's the Ministry of the Interior," Sofianos said.

"Whatever is the law providing about these irregularities, they are going to take action," he said.

Michael Antoniou, acting Permanent Secretary in the absence of Andreas Panayiotou, insisted it was impossible to release the report, and that neither Politisnor Phileleftheroshad copies of it.

However, Phileleftherosquoted from what appeared to be the language of the report compiled by Theodorou, which reportedly blamed Nicolaides and the duty airport immigration officer in charge at the time of the incident.

"It seems from the available evidence that the on-duty officials at the control centre too their decision light-heartedly, taking short-cuts in the procedures and in a very short time, without giving the issue the necessary importance and attention," Phileleftherosquoted.

Politis declared that perhaps the report's "most important recommendation was that the powers given to the Chief Migration Officer be given to the Police Chief of the Immigration Service, and by extension to the policeman on duty at passport control, because he is there and can make an on-the-spot decision."

The two Senegalese men said Cyprus Immigration officers at Larnaca Airport dismissed their claim to merely wanting to attend a computer conference to which they had been invited, and ignored their valid passports and visas, return airline tickets home, written invitation to the conference, confirmed reservations at the Hilton, travel orders from their Dakar employer and wallets full of cash.

Instead, they said, the Immigration officers laughed in their faces when they insisted they had Hilton reservations and were not merely scheming to illegally stay in Cyprus.

The officers then passed the matter to Nicolaides, who summarily ordered the pair deported back to London aboard the next Cyprus Airways plane out, despite protests by the airline that both men's documents were in order and they should not be deported.

When Lenia Iacovides, sales manager of Gateway Partners SEMEA of Nicosia, who had invited the two to Cyprus, learned of their deportation, she pressed the Immigration Department to reverse them. It did, while their plane was still flying to London.

Iacovides heads sales in southern Europe, the Middle East and Africa for Gateway Computers, a US-based computer giant. Sakho and Diop are employees of System Plus, Iacovides' Dakar distributor for Gateway Computers. It was her computer seminar.

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Tuesday, June 22, 1999

[07] Suspect confesses to dam murder

AN ARADIPPOU man has admitted killing former special policeman Fotis Petrakides on April 2 this year.

The bullet-riddled body of father-of-three Petrakides was pulled out of Aradippou dam outside Larnaca three days later.

George Zavrantonas, 22, yesterday pleaded guilty before the Larnaca Assizes to six charges in connection with the killing near Koshi village in the Larnaca district. The charges were causing death by an illegal act, illegally carrying three pistols and two rifles, illegal use of a kalashnikov and possession of twenty cartridges.

Zavrantonas is to be sentenced on July 2.

Another suspect is being held in connection with the murder -- 30-year-old Christos Tziakouris, from Yeri outside Nicosia. He is due to appear before the same court later this week.

Police say Zavrantonas, Tziakouris and the 55-year-old murder victim, from Engomi in Nicosia, were all involved in a gun-running ring bringing weapons onto the island from Bulgaria via Greece. It was investigations into Petrakides' murder that led to the uncovering of the ring.

Zavrantonas has led police to a well at Aradippou and to Larnaca port, where they found two stashes of weapons believed to be part of a haul smuggled through Limassol port by the gang between January and April this year.

Two more men are being held in connection with the suspected gun-running. They are Greek taxi driver Yiannis Tournas, 50, and Georgios Pais, 30, both from Larnaca.

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Tuesday, June 22, 1999

[08] Government backs down on defence levy plea

IN THE face of stiff opposition to its plans, the government appears ready to concede partial defeat on extending defence levy increases until December 2002.

"Due to the differing points of view, the government is willing to accept a temporary increase of one year to give time for negotiations on alternatives."

This was the message taken to yesterday's closed House Finance Committee meeting by Finance Minister Takis Clerides.

He told committee members that the government was ready to compromise on the issue by only proposing that the levy increases remain in place for one year -- until next June -- instead of three-and-a-half.

It is understood the minister dismissed George Vassiliou's suggestion that increases in VAT should replace the levy hike and Akel's proposal that payment of the levy should be income-related.

Clerides argued that VAT would need to increase by at least four per cent for the government to make any savings and said Akel's suggestion was unworkable.

The government hit choppy seas when Akel and Diko both said they would be reluctant to support the defence levy extension bill submitted to the House last month.

Disy and Edek said they would approve the temporary extension until 2002.

Current legislation raising compulsory defence contributions from two to between three and four per cent is up for review at the end of this month.

The initial defence levy hike last August from two to three per cent was eventually passed by a majority of one on the proviso that it be reviewed every six months.

In December 1998, the blanket levy was passed for a further six months, with certain individuals and organisations being put in the four per cent bracket.

Diko and Akel's objections focus on what they see as the government's failed missile policy and redundant defence strategy. They argue the levy hike was only approved because of the government's commitment to the Russian S-300 missiles, which were unceremoniously diverted to Crete after the December 22 vote in the House last year.

With the Clerides administration also proposing a comprehensive £140 million tax package, the opposition is aware that additional wage cuts would cause a storm of public protest -- especially when the government has fallen short of its military spending pledge and has nothing but a huge defence fund deficit to show for it.

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Tuesday, June 22, 1999

[09] Electrician admits planting Larnaca bombs

But another Larnaca man -- who police believe was the "mastermind" behind the blasts -- pleaded not guilty to similar charges.

Demetris Demetriou, 22, will be sentenced on July 8, while the trial of the alleged "mastermind", 36-year-old Demetris Demetriou, known as Jimis, will continue.

The two Demetrious are charged with conspiring to commit a crime, illegal possession of explosives and attempting to destroy property.

The bomb attacks -- on an Electricity Authority (EAC) sub-station next to the oil refinery, on May 21, and the district court, on May 23 -- caused only minor damage and no injuries.

Police say the electrician planted the home-made explosives. He was arrested about 300 yards from the courthouse shortly after the early morning bomb attack after he was involved in an accident. Police say he crashed his motorbike in his rush to abandon the scene of the explosion.

Justice Minister Nicos Koshis has suggested the bomb attacks were part of an effort by the Larnaca underworld to "asset" itself in the coastal town.

Two other men arrested in connection with the attacks -- Andreas Antoniou Kitsios, 26, from the Limassol district village of Ayios Amvrosios and National Guardsman Iakovos Hadjantonis, 19, from Larnaca -- were later released without charge.

[10] Woman charged with stabbing father

Mother-of-two Irini Xeni was charged by Larnaca CID for assaulting her 67- year-old father Pantelis Ipermachou during a domestic row on Sunday.

Pensioner Ipermachou is now being treated at Nicosia General hospital for a knife wound to his right wrist.

The stabbing was the culmination of a heated argument at Ipermachou's Larnaca home during a Sunday afternoon visit by his daughter.

Xeni has since admitted to police that she assaulted and injured her father in a moment of anger.

She was charged and released yesterday to appear in court at a later date.

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Tuesday, June 22, 1999

[11] Turkish Cypriot defendants want Clerides to testify against Denktash

The journalists at Avrupanewspaper are being sued for £175,000 for alleged libel over claims that Denktash was implicated in the political murders of Turkish Cypriots during intercommunal troubles in the 1960s.

The paper wants Clerides to testify in order to back allegations from its reporters, made in a series of articles, that Denktash had terrorist links, according to yesterday's Politis.

They are questioning Denktash's own version of events during a turbulent period in the island's history.

Apparently, Denktash claims that in 1964 he was escorted to Nicosia airport by the British, and not by Clerides, who was House president at the time.

In his memoirs, Clerides states that he personally accompanied Denktash and his family to the airport when they fled the island for Turkey.

During the trial, Turkish Cypriot journalist Sener Levent, carrying out his own defence, has tried to prove that Denktash had links with Turkish Cypriot terrorist organisation TMT.

Avrupa says Denktash is trying to gag the free press and wants him to take the witness stand.

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Tuesday, June 22, 1999

[12] Demetriou holds off Prodromou's Disy challenge

Demetriou secured 56.6 per cent of the 5,525 votes cast, compared to the 44.4 per cent of challenger Prodromos Prodromou.

Nicos Anastassiades was re-elected party leader unopposed.

The only other point of note in the election results was that younger Disy deputies Lefteris Christoforou and Averof Neophytou were ahead of older Disy deputies in elections for the party political bureau.

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Tuesday, June 22, 1999

[13] Larnaca port workers threaten to strike again

Sek, Peo and Deok made the announcement after a general assembly with the workers yesterday morning.

The strike threat follows a Cabinet decision last Thursday to award harbour workers who would be made redundant £600,000 worth of compensation from government funds and another £200,000 to be drawn from the salaries of workers that are to stay on.

A number of harbour employees will be laid off as surplus to requirements once the government implements plans to turn the port into a leisure harbour.

Speaking after the meeting and on behalf of all three unions, Peo's Athos Eleftheriou said the compensation offer had been rejected by the harbour employees and the decision to strike had been taken.

He said that the strike would begin on Friday to allow more time for negotiations and other official proposals.

Eleftheriou added that the unions expected to hear from the government soon.

Port workers and stevedores were out on strike for over a month earlier this year to protest at the lack of work and the delay in government plans for the port.

The strike ended when the government announced that the port would be turned into a leisure harbour and that surplus workers would be offered compensation packages including alterative employment wherever possible.

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Tuesday, June 22, 1999

[14] Autopsy confirms British women killed by carbon monoxide

The cause of death was determined by an evening autopsy carried out on the two, Jean Pollak, 69, and Janet Anne Deubert, 44, by State Coroner Sophocles Sophocleous.

The two were found in a state of decomposition in Pollak's VW Golf on Friday. The car was parked outside her luxury Paphos holiday home in Anarita village. A hose pipe led from the exhaust through one of the front windows.

Originally from London, Pollak was a permanent resident of Cyprus for six years, but Deubert had only been on the island for a few days. It is thought that the couple had formed a suicide pact, as several notes addressed to Pollak's family were found in the house. One of these apparently said the two were "tired of life". No foul play is suspected.

The grisly discovery was made by another British resident of Anarita, William Beechey. He found the two at 11.30am when he went to Pollak's home after not seeing her for three days.

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Tuesday, June 22, 1999

[15] Rolandis seeks £2 million for Miss Universe

Rolandis told the House Finance Committee that the money would be taken from the Cyprus Tourism Organisation budget. He underlined that the Miss Universe contest was the third largest event worldwide after the Olympics and the World Cup, and would significantly boost the number of tourists arriving on the island, especially from the United States. The costs, he added, would be offset by the sale of the television rights to the pageant, valued at between $3 and $5 million.

The contest looks set to take place at Nicosia's Eleftheria Stadium next summer. The organisers CBS and the Donald Trump Corporation have long favoured Cyprus as the host country for the millennial contest as it is the birthplace of Aphrodite, goddess of beauty. Rolandis has said that the contest will count as one of Cyprus' main millennium-marking events.

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Tuesday, June 22, 1999

[16] Two held after drugs chase

Larnaca district court yesterday remanded Zinonas Theofanous, 25, and Greek national Elias Panayiotarides, 30, for eight days.

Investigating officer Andreas Vrionis said the two men were under investigation for four offenses that took place on the night of Sunday to yesterday.

The charges, Vrionis said, included conspiracy to commit an offence, illegal possession of drugs, drug supplying and possession of drugs with the intention of supplying others.

The officer said the arrests had been made after a tip-off that a 17-year- old would be taking part in a drug sale.

The youth was put under surveillance and arrested in possession of 170 grams of cannabis resin in the early hours of yesterday.

The suspect reportedly told police he had received the drugs from Theofanous with the intention of selling them on.

The police then asked him to set up another meeting with Theofanous so the older man could be arrested.

At about 5.30am yesterday, Theofanous and Panayiotarides arrived for the meeting. When the two men spotted the police, they raced off, throwing another 170 grams of cannabis resin out the window.

After a lengthy chase, the police arrested Theofanous, capturing Panayiotarides, who had abandoned the car, a little while later in Nicosia.

Panayiotarides denied all involvement with the deal.

A search of Theofanous' car found a spray he had used against police officers during his arrest and another bag containing cannabis resin.

Police believe that Theofanous is one of the brains behind an operation importing drugs to Cyprus from Greece.

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Tuesday, June 22, 1999

[17] Russian drowns in swimming pool

Andrei Lazarenkov had been partying with friends on Sunday night, and, according to witnesses, appeared to be very drunk.

After the party broke up, he decided to go swimming in the pool, in spite of repeated warnings by the hotel manager.

His body was found at around 6am by a hotel worker, who alerted police. Lazarenkov arrived in Cyprus on Saturday 13 and had been due to return home to Russia on July 3.

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Tuesday, June 22, 1999

[18] Man killed in Sunday crash

Andreas Karios, 51, had stopped his vehicle on the side of the road when it broke down. He was in front of the vehicle carrying out repairs when another car ploughed into the back of it, pushing it forward and crushing Avgorou. A Bulgarian worker with him at the time was injured.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1999

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