Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 01-04-08

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From: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cyprus-mail.com/>

Sunday, April 8, 2001

CONTENTS

[01] Ankara digs in its heels over Titina

[02] Decision on airport duty frees 'next week'

[03] Bin Laden cash? We know nothing about it

[04] Police warn drivers after heavy rain

[05] Bank robbery suspect remanded

[06] Thousands walk for the blind

[07] News in brief

[01] Ankara digs in its heels over Titina

TURKEY wants to be excused from complying with a European Court ruling ordering Ankara to compensate a Greek Cypriot for occupying her land until after a Cyprus settlement.

In a landmark 1995 decision, the European Court of Human Rights ordered Turkey to pay Greek Cypriot Titina Loizidou $900,000 compensation for denying her access to her land in occupied Kyrenia since 1974. Turkey has yet to comply with the decision, despite two subsequent resolutions from the Council of Europe (CoE) demanding that it do so.

The CoE Committee of Ministers met on Thursday to consider a third resolution against Turkey over the Loizidou case, the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) reported yesterday.

But, according to diplomatic sources in Nicosia and Athens quoted by CNA, Turkey is now taking her resistance to the 1995 ruling a step further.

Ankara has submitted a proposal to the CoE that the diplomats say suggests she only pay up on the Loizidou settlement after a Cyprus settlement. Athens and Nicosia look upon this Turkish proposal as “unacceptable” and nothing more than a delaying tactic.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[02] Decision on airport duty frees 'next week'

ATTORNEY-general Alecos Markides told the Sunday Mail yesterday that a decision on whether the contract for the duty-free shops would go to tender would “probably be announced next week”.

Unconfirmed reports suggested on Friday that when the Cyprus Airways (CY) contract runs out at the end of the month, the government would be unable to find a loophole in the law to renew the contract for the national carrier.

The airline has been running the airport duty free shops for the past five years, but the Supreme Court ruled in October that the contract should be opened to tender, following a long drawn-out legal battle between a number of contenders, including tourism giant Louis.

At the time Finance Minister Takis Klerides said that a way round the Supreme Court ruling would be found by passing legislation that would allow the government to give the contract back to CY.

The Supreme Court chastised the government for failing to follow proper tender procedure when dealing with contracts in the national interest.

“There has been no official announcement, but we hope that a solution will be found so Cyprus Airways won't lose the tender,” CY spokesman Tassos Angelis told the Sunday Mail.

He said it was true that losing the contract would be a serious loss for the airline, which netted a £3.9 million profit from the shops in 1999.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[03] Bin Laden cash? We know nothing about it

THE GOVERNMENT yesterday professed total ignorance about reports that an organisation controlled by America's most wanted terrorist, Saudi Osama Bin Laden, kept bank accounts in Cyprus.

Foreign Minister Ioannis Cassoulides and Attorney-general Alecos Markides both said that they knew nothing at all about Bin Laden money in Cyprus.

CyBC first reported the allegations in its Friday night TV news bulletin, quoting testimony given by Bin Laden associate Jamat Ahmet Alfato in a New York court.

The national broadcaster claimed that the government had contacted American authorities to dismiss the allegations, after having been informed of the contents of Alfato's testimony.

But Cassoulides said yesterday that he had not been informed about the alleged Bin Laden connection. He said it was the first time he had heard about the matter.

Markides also said he had no official information, and had been reassured by members of the anti-money laundering unit that they also knew nothing about it.

Bin Laden is bring tried in absentia, along with some of his associates, who stand accused of killing 224 and wounding 5,000 in terrorist attacks on the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in August 1998.

Alfato told the court that an organisation called Arketa was founded in 1998 and deposited income from its operations in Cyprus accounts.

Alfato, who worked with Bin Laden for many years, said Arketa used companies throughout the world to establish an international terrorist network.

He said the organisation brought and transferred weapons to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, America and possibly Cyprus.

His testimony named four members of the terrorist organisation who visited Cyprus to carry out dealings.

Official reports from Washington have branded Cyprus a hotspot for money laundering and gun running more than twice in the past few months.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[04] Police warn drivers after heavy rain

HEAVY rain lashed the Limassol and Paphos districts early yesterday, precipitating calls from the police for drivers to be vigilant on the roads over the weekend.

Boulders slid down a hillside and fell perilously close to the Limassol- Paphos highway on the stretch of road before the tunnel.

As rain and thunder battered the low ground, two to three centimetres of snow fell on Troodos. The Meteorological Department recorded 18.8 mm of rain in Paphos, 11.6 mm in Akrotiri and 22 mm in Kellaki, in the Limassol foothills.

Rain was minimal in Nicosia and Larnaca stayed dry.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[05] Bank robbery suspect remanded

A 27-YEAR-OLD man has been remanded for eight days in connection with a bank robbery at the Popular Bank in Kato Polemidia on Friday morning.

The suspect is alleged to have stolen £33,000 in cash in the armed raid. Brandishing a sawn off shotgun a man ordered customers and staff to hit the floor as he stuffed banknotes into plastic bags before speeding off in an orange getaway car.

Police picked a man up at a kiosk in Kandou as he sat sipping coffee, an hour after the crime.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[06] Thousands walk for the blind

THOUSANDS took part in the annual 'Walk for the Blind' fund-raising marches held in Nicosia, Limassol, Larnaca, Paphos, Paralimni and Pelendri in the Troodos mountains yesterday.

The event aims at raising money for the blind and also public awareness about the problems faced by those with eyesight problems.

In his message to mark the event, President Clerides said the government's aim would always be to achieve “the full and equal participation of the visually impaired in society”.

The 'Walk for the Blind' marches -- organised by the Lions Club - are followed up by a fair at the Nicosia Blind School between 11am and 7pm today.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[07] News in brief

Firecrackers remand

The youth apparently admitted trying to sell them to another three youths, also arrested on the scene, who were charged and released.

Arson attack

Student knifed

After an argument, the youth pulled a knife and stabbed the 18-year-old student in the back before fleeing on a motorbike. The student received first aid at Paphos hospital and was released.

Cheques scam

The 19-year-old woman and two 24-year-old men join another young woman who was remanded for five days on Friday.

Police are searching for another man in connection with the same case, who has been neither seen nor heard from for the past two months.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

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