Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 99-09-03

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

Friday, September 3, 1999

CONTENTS

[01] Autopsy finds enclaved man was shot deadBy Martin HellicarAN AUTOPSY carried out in the occupied areas yesterday has confirmed that an enclaved Greek Cypriot found burned in his car on Tuesday was murdered.Turkish Cypriot 'police' said 69-year-old Stelios Charpas "died as a result of injuries caused by firearms," Turkish Cypriot news agency Tak reported.The autopsy was carried out in occupied Varosha in the morning, but even before the results were released Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash was describing the death as a "monstrous murder," agreeing, for once, with the government's assessment of a situation.The government insisted from the off that the death of Charpas -- whose charred remains were found in his burnt- out car near the occupied village of Rizokarpaso on Tuesday -- was the 27th murder of an enclaved Greek Cypriot at the hands of Turks since 1974.In a written statement released yesterday afternoon, Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou confirmed the Tak report, saying the government had "information" the autopsy had proved murder.The autopsy was attended by an Unficyp representative and the UN report on the examination is expected to be handed to the government today.Papapetrou also confirmed Turkish Cypriot press reports that four people had been arrested in the north in connection with the killing. Turkish Cypriot papers said three of the suspects were brothers; Papapetrou stated they were all Turkish Cypriots.The government, distrustful of the occupation regime, has asked the UN to make arrangements for Charpas's body to be brought over to the government-controlled areas for a second autopsy."We have received assurances from the north that the body can come to the south tomorrow morning," Unficyp spokeswoman Sarah Russell said yesterday.The Foreign Ministry yesterday demanded of the UN permanent representative to Cyprus, Dame Ann Hercus, that the UN conduct a "full investigation of the circumstances of the murder," Papapetrou said.Unficyp, who are investigating the case along with Turkish Cypriot police, are treating the incident as a "suspicious death," Russell said.Papapetrou also told his daily press briefing that Nicosia considered the UN partly responsible for the murder."The mild manner with which the UN Secretary general (Kofi Annan) dealt with the issue of the enclaved in his last report allows the occupation authorities the luxury of not treating this issue with the necessary seriousness," he said.The government has consistently complained to the UN about Turkish treatment of some 500 mostly elderly Greek Cypriots surviving in the Karpas enclave of Rizokarpaso.Attorney-general Alecos Markides had ordered Cyprus police to investigate Charpas's murder and legal measures might eventually be taken against the occupation regime, Papapetrou stated. He did not say what such measures might be.Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides said on Wednesday the government was "shocked by the murder".Russell added that although the UN had secured permission for the man's family to visit the north to attend the autopsy, the family had declined and Charpas' wife Yiannoula was expected in the south today.But one of Charpas's sons, Sotiris, later said the occupation regime had refused him permission to visit his mother and brother at Rizokarpaso. He said no reason was given for the refusal and he feared for the safety of his mother and brother, adding that he would like to see them move to the south.Humanitarian Affairs officer Takis Christopoulos said the victim would be buried in Limassol after the second autopsy.However, Russell said the victim's wife had "expressed a preference for her husband to be buried in the north and we could arrange that."

[02] Tourism soars, but race warning strikes note of caution

[03] Share prices plunge by almost 10 per cent

[04] Tourists jailed for drugs

[05] 15,000 cases of Budweiser withdrawn after bottle scare

[06] Palace meeting avoids Disy rift

[07] Preventive treatment saves child from Aids

[08] Police round up illegal immigrants

[01] Autopsy finds enclaved man was shot deadBy Martin HellicarAN AUTOPSY carried out in the occupied areas yesterday has confirmed that an enclaved Greek Cypriot found burned in his car on Tuesday was murdered.Turkish Cypriot 'police' said 69-year-old Stelios Charpas "died as a result of injuries caused by firearms," Turkish Cypriot news agency Tak reported.The autopsy was carried out in occupied Varosha in the morning, but even before the results were released Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash was describing the death as a "monstrous murder," agreeing, for once, with the government's assessment of a situation.The government insisted from the off that the death of Charpas -- whose charred remains were found in his burnt- out car near the occupied village of Rizokarpaso on Tuesday -- was the 27th murder of an enclaved Greek Cypriot at the hands of Turks since 1974.In a written statement released yesterday afternoon, Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou confirmed the Tak report, saying the government had "information" the autopsy had proved murder.The autopsy was attended by an Unficyp representative and the UN report on the examination is expected to be handed to the government today.Papapetrou also confirmed Turkish Cypriot press reports that four people had been arrested in the north in connection with the killing. Turkish Cypriot papers said three of the suspects were brothers; Papapetrou stated they were all Turkish Cypriots.The government, distrustful of the occupation regime, has asked the UN to make arrangements for Charpas's body to be brought over to the government-controlled areas for a second autopsy."We have received assurances from the north that the body can come to the south tomorrow morning," Unficyp spokeswoman Sarah Russell said yesterday.The Foreign Ministry yesterday demanded of the UN permanent representative to Cyprus, Dame Ann Hercus, that the UN conduct a "full investigation of the circumstances of the murder," Papapetrou said.Unficyp, who are investigating the case along with Turkish Cypriot police, are treating the incident as a "suspicious death," Russell said.Papapetrou also told his daily press briefing that Nicosia considered the UN partly responsible for the murder."The mild manner with which the UN Secretary general (Kofi Annan) dealt with the issue of the enclaved in his last report allows the occupation authorities the luxury of not treating this issue with the necessary seriousness," he said.The government has consistently complained to the UN about Turkish treatment of some 500 mostly elderly Greek Cypriots surviving in the Karpas enclave of Rizokarpaso.Attorney-general Alecos Markides had ordered Cyprus police to investigate Charpas's murder and legal measures might eventually be taken against the occupation regime, Papapetrou stated. He did not say what such measures might be.Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides said on Wednesday the government was "shocked by the murder".Russell added that although the UN had secured permission for the man's family to visit the north to attend the autopsy, the family had declined and Charpas' wife Yiannoula was expected in the south today.But one of Charpas's sons, Sotiris, later said the occupation regime had refused him permission to visit his mother and brother at Rizokarpaso. He said no reason was given for the refusal and he feared for the safety of his mother and brother, adding that he would like to see them move to the south.Humanitarian Affairs officer Takis Christopoulos said the victim would be buried in Limassol after the second autopsy.However, Russell said the victim's wife had "expressed a preference for her husband to be buried in the north and we could arrange that."

Friday, September 3, 1999

[02] Tourism soars, but race warning strikes note of caution

THE POLITICALLY incorrect behaviour of customs officials is the bane of Cyprus tourism, the president of the Cyprus Hotel Managers Association (Pasydixe) said yesterday.

Speaking at Pasydixe's 17th annual general meeting, John Wood also said the government had to be even more active in attracting tourism.

Tourism Minister Nicos Rolandis meanwhile said that if current 1999 tourism trends continued, Cyprus could make a record £1 billion in tourism this year.

"In the first six-month period of 1999, the increase in tourist arrivals reached 10 per cent in comparison with the same period last year."

Rolandis said the country's income form tourism had risen by 17 per cent. "It is especially important that this increase in income is not only a result of more tourist arrivals but also rise in the per capita spending and length of stay."

But Wood warned the industry it could not rest on its laurels.

"Our friendliness used to be our number one asset, but recently this image has been tarnished badly by the actions of the immigration department at the airports who have made some visitors feel unwelcome on arrival, possibly because of the colour of their skin," Wood said.

He added that no amount of advertising could mend the damage done if an overseas tabloid picked up and featured just one of these stories.

"We call on the government to ensure that there is no discrimination against bona fidevisitors," he said, adding that Europeans "did not understand our pro-Serb stance during the Kosovo war."

Wood said strikes at several of the island's hotels had also tarnished the way clients saw Cyprus: "Strikes are bad news and the damage they do to our image is immeasurable."

But Wood also saw a brighter side to the tourism picture: "The Tourism Minister's efforts to have the Miss Universe 2000 Pageant held in Cyprus are to be applauded as the publicity generated for the island -- provided it is professionally handled -- will be incredible and no doubt it will spawn other publicity-attracting ideas."

Wood also pointed out that the BBC television series Sunburnhad generated a lot of "free publicity" for the island.

He added that tax incentives should be made available to encourage the rich and famous to have second homes in Cyprus: "the press would follow them and their presence here would certainly help create an image of quality as well as 'stargazer' tourism -- the success of Beverly Hills and Monte Carlo is legendary."

He said tourism was of paramount importance to the island and that if the government's goal of attracting three million visitors by 2003 was to be achieved, then the tourist season had to be extended and hotels become more specialised.

"Hotels themselves need to innovate by offering a niche, well-focused product, particularly in the five winter months, and they should not try to be everything to everyone -- failure to react will result in non-branded hotels suffering since they will not have the benefits of the large distribution and marketing networks."

He said the hotel industry was no longer as admired by its competitors as it once was, as many highly experienced hotel managers had left the island. He said these managers often wanted to remain involved in the industry but did not have the assets of capital to invest in small hotels, "No 'value' is put on the 'expertise' and 'know how' that these persons have gained over the years, as the Banks want to see tangible assets."

Wood said Pasydixe had approached the Cyprus Development Bank to be innovative by operating a scheme to develop the 'small and friendly' type of hotel, enabling experienced hotel managers to stay in the industry.

"These types of hotel are highly successful in competing destinations as they usually offer excellent food and very personalised service and they will certainly help halt the deterioration of standards that everyone is complaining about."

Wood also called on the government "not to kill the goose with the golden egg" by increasing VAT. "In fact, we plead for them to reduce it so that Cyprus has two levels of VAT as is the case in some other EU countries."

Cyprus is gradually raising its levels of VAT in line with EU harmonisation requirements.

Wood said Cyprus already had a reputation for being an expensive destination, so financial incentives were needed to help reduce operating costs.

He said CyTA's recent decision to reduce the cost of some overseas phone calls was welcome, but that a lot remained to be done, such as reducing electricity and sewage fees.

Pasydixe is the islands leading hotel managers' association, with 164 active members.

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Friday, September 3, 1999

[03] Share prices plunge by almost 10 per cent

The plunge capped three successive days of losses, with the index yesterday closing 43 points down on Wednesday's close to end the day at 409.17. All seven sectors of the market ended the day down, although the volume of transactions was slightly higher than Wednesday at £59 million.

The falls were still not enough, however, to cancel out Monday's meteoric 26.72 per cent rise in the market.

Bank shares were particularly badly hit yesterday, with the banking sector index falling 10.73 per cent. Bank of Cyprus shares -- which on Monday set the market alight returning from a three-week lay-off to a 2-for-1 split -- were yesterday down £1.08 to close at £8.88. The Hellenic Bank price, after a meteoric rise in the last few weeks, took a beating yesterday closing £1.47 down at £15 ahead of a 4-for-1 split later this year. The Popular Bank price dropped by £1.35 to close at £10.76.

The insurance sector fared even worse as the index recorded the biggest fall, 10.84 per cent. Universal Life, one of the high-flyers of the last few months plunged by a staggering £2.75, to finish at £11.90.

The collapse in prices came a day after the chairman of the Cyprus Stock Exchange, Dinos Papadopoulos, had warned that some stocks were grossly overvalued.

On Wednesday, Papadopoulos, in an apparent attempt to talk down a red hot market, warned investors to be cautious and listen to the advice of experts before investing in the stock market. This was a clear warning that the indiscriminate purchase of shares had driven up prices unjustifiably.

Rumours that brokerage firms were warning clients of an imminent crash and advising them to cash in on their holdings must also have contributed to yesterday's plunge in prices.

But yesterday, stockbrokers seemed generally unconcerned by the drop.

"Since Monday, when the volume of trade reached over £100 million, it was bound to drop because prices were inflated," one broker said, echoing what Papadopoulos had said on Wednesday.

But the broker added that he did not expect the slump to last, but rather that the market would reach equilibrium.

"As from Monday, I expect further share price increases for about a week and a half and then the market will be stagnant," he said.

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Friday, September 3, 1999

[04] Tourists jailed for drugs

FOUR British tourists were yesterday jailed for one month in Cyprus after pleading guilty to possessing a small quantity of hard drugs.

The British holidaymakers -- three men and a woman -- are the latest victims of the Cyprus police's zero tolerance policy in popular tourist resorts like Ayia Napa, where the recreational use of drugs is on the increase.

Britons Jennie Natasha Ling, a 22-year-old drama student from Twickenham, Middlesex, father-of-two Mark Lambie, 28, from north London, Errol Gordon, 34, from Neasden northwest London and father-of-five Joseph Jacobs, 43, also from Neasden were jailed after a Drug squad bust at their Ayia Napa hotel apartments on August 25.

"Possession and use of drugs by foreign tourists in Cyprus has reached disturbing levels and therefore a prison term is unavoidable," said Larnaca court judge Leonidas Kalogirou yesterday.

The police swoop, following a tip-off, turned up two ecstasy tablets in Ling's bag, a single ecstasy tablet in Gordon's wardrobe, an ecstasy tablet and a small sachet of hashish among Jacobs' personal belongings and half a gramme of cocaine in Lambie's trouser pocket, the court heard.

The tourists admitted to buying the drugs from a dealer in the holiday resort.

Drug squad officers are trying to track down a narcotics gang who they believe supply illegal substances to UK ravers at wild parties in Ayia Napa.

Over a million British tourists are expected to visit Cyprus this year, most of them are flocking to Ayia Napa's burgeoning underground club scene dubbed the 'new Ibiza'.

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Friday, September 3, 1999

[05] 15,000 cases of Budweiser withdrawn after bottle scare

THOUSANDS of bottles of America's bestselling Budweiser beer are being withdrawn from the Cypriot market due to a design fault.

The local importer of Budweiser beer estimates that some 15,000 cases of 25cl and 33cl bottles are affected but most of these are stocked up in warehouses.

"A fax from the company today has informed us that when the bottles are opened there is a tendency for the neck to break," said the Commerce Ministry's consumer protection service director George Mitides.

"There have been complaints of minor injuries but not in Cyprus," said Mitides.

Cyprus is one of 12 European countries with twist-off bottles manufactured in Spain or Portugal which could be faulty.

Anheuser-Busch Cos has recalled 5.8 million bottles (240,000 cases) from those countries affected, which include Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Holland. Over half the recalled bottles are in Spain and the 12 countries affected only account for six per cent of the company's European sales.

"We have started withdrawing bottles as a precautionary measure even though there have been no incidents in Cyprus," said Erotokritos Antoniades, speaking on behalf of the local importer yesterday.

"There aren't that many cases on sale, but we shall complete the operation by next Tuesday and in the meantime fetch a fresh batch from Greece which is not affected," he added.

Mitides said that all Budweisers with a best before date of August 15 2000 would have to be withdrawn from store shelves.

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Friday, September 3, 1999

[06] Palace meeting avoids Disy rift

DISY'S big day at the Presidential Palace ended with the party no closer to resolving a bitter internal feud over the recent reshuffle.

Yesterday's meeting had been touted as an opportunity for party dissenters Prodromos Prodromou and Demetris Syllouris to air their views at a meeting of Disy's political office with President Glafcos Clerides.

But it seems that government policy was the only thing discussed as government spokesman Michalis Papapetrou confirmed that Disy's bitter internal wrangle was kept off the agenda.

Prodromou was expelled from Disy's political office after criticising the party's lack of ministerial clout following last week's reshuffle which saw junior partner United Democrats get a significant share of the spoils, with the UD's Papapetrou and Health Minister Frixos Savvides joining Agriculture Minister Costas Themistocleous in government.

Syllouris also joined the fray, claiming Clerides was abandoning his hard line on the Cyprus problem in favour of the more moderate approach adopted by United Democrat George Vassiliou when he was president.

But yesterday the party was apparently relieved to discover that Clerides was keeping on-message with his Cyprus problem policies.

"Complete answers were given to all the questions. I was absolutely satisfied with what the president said," Disy boss Nicos Anastassiades said after the meeting.

"No issues were raised on differences of opinion within the party and the president wasn't asked to intervene," he added.

The two dissenters were not saying much afterwards either, and Anastassiades suggested that Prodromou would stay out in the cold for the time being.

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Friday, September 3, 1999

[07] Preventive treatment saves child from Aids

A WOMAN who was HIV-positive when she became pregnant has had a healthy baby thanks to preventive treatment, her doctor confirmed yesterday.

The head of Larnaca hospital's Gregoriou Clinic, Dr John Demetriades, told the Cyprus Mailthe preventive medication had been prescribed during the woman's pregnancy.

The drugs in question dilute the virus' concentration in the body.

The newborn baby, whose exact date of birth was not revealed, was also given the medicine in the month following its birth.

The baby was delivered by caesarean section in order to minimise the infant's contact with the mother's bodily fluids and has since undergone medical examinations which have shown no sign of the deadly virus.

The baby is already more than 24 months old, and so is officially clear of the illness. This makes the child the first to be born healthy from an HIV positive mother in Cyprus.

A second baby born to an Aids carrier, who was given the same treatment and is slightly younger, has not yet reached the 24 month mark.

Medical examinations, however, have so far shown the child to be free of the illness.

Demetriades told the Cyprus Mailthat "three women with Aids have given birth in Cyprus: the first birth occurred before the medication course was implemented, and the baby was born HIV positive."

Without the treatment, which is being used all over the world, Demetriades said there was a 40 to 45 per cent chance the baby of an Aids sufferer would itself be born HIV positive.

The treatment reduces the risk to around seven per cent.

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Friday, September 3, 1999

[08] Police round up illegal immigrants

The operation was conducted between 4 and 9am.

Police said one of the women arrested was later released "for humanitarian reasons" -- because she had a young child with her. Mother and child are to be deported from Cyprus at a later date, police said.

During the whole of last month, a total of 205 illegal aliens were arrested in Cyprus.

Most of these, 175, were arrested for illegal residence, 28 were charged with working illegally and two with illegal entry into Cyprus. The 12 locals employing the 28 foreigners illegally have been charged and will be brought up before court at a future date, police said.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1999

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