Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 01-12-29

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

Saturday, December 29, 2001

CONTENTS

[01] Dinner for three (as the world looks on)

[02] Cassoulides: Solution by June depends on Turkish side's honesty

[03] Al Qaeda 'bought boat in Cyprus to fund terror'

[04] Shopkeepers demand tighter controls on discounting

[05] More remands in 'fake claims' case

[06] CSE hopes for a happier New Year

[07] Boy, 6, seriously hurt in accident

[08] Plea for blood donors

[09] Pipeline danger warning

[01] Dinner for three (as the world looks on)

TWENTY-SEVEN years have passed since Turkish leader Rauf Denktash last set foot on this side of the Green Line. Tonight he will make history when he crosses the buffer zone to dine with President Glafcos Clerides at his Nicosia residence.

The dinner invitation was extended after Denktash hosted Clerides at his own home for dinner on December 5.

Preparations were well under way yesterday to ensure the President's home at 5 Ioannis Clerides Street in Lycavitos is in prime condition for the long-awaited dinner, which comes before the start of face-to-face Cyprus problem negotiations between the two men on January 16.

While inside the house it may be a cosy dinner for three (acting UN representative Zbigniew Wlosowicz will also attend), outside at least 210 police officers are expected to be on duty. The entire rapid reaction unit will also be present to make sure everything runs smoothly. Many of them are expected to be in plain clothes.

The heads of various police departments, press and information office officials and workmen assembled at Clerides' house yesterday to discuss the various measures that need to be taken.

As officials huddled to discuss security, an army of painters and cleaners descended on the President's home. Lamps were polished, walls were painted and floors were swept. Even three of the trees directly outside the house were pruned in order not to give photographers and cameramen a clearer view tonight. One photographer who complained that the trees were not being cut back enough was told that the President did not appreciate his trees being pruned and that he refused to have them cut any more.

Police chief Andreas Angelides, the head of the rapid reaction unit Iacovos Papacostas, and other senior police officers, as well as press office personnel, were concerned about where to put the 200 journalists from both sides of the Green Line who are expected to attend.

It was finally decided that photographers and cameramen would be positioned directly opposite Clerides' house on a pavement that will be roped off. A wooden platform is under construction so those at the back will still have a clear view of the cars and their occupants pulling up outside the house.

Unfortunately, police said, the area was not large enough to hold all the media personnel -- and some journalists will be placed in a nearby field. The reason for this, according to Angelides, is that they only "have to write about the evening, and won't actually be interviewing anyone, so they don't need to be up close".

In order to accommodate them as best as possible, he suggested that a wooden platform also be placed in the field. This slight elevation would, police said, give the journalists a "good view of Denktash" rolling up in his car.

Nearby skips were also removed yesterday to ensure that nothing obstructed the sides of the road, and plans were being made to cordon off adjacent fields so that cars could not park there at all today.

Arrangements were also made with a nearby hairdresser's that its clients would have to park on another street for just one day. One policeman joked that he hoped for rain so no-one would show up to have their hair done, clearing the area even further.

Instructions were given to close the road off to everyone today, and police collected the names of all residents living in nearby buildings, as they will be the only ones allowed to pass through the cordon. Their cars were another matter, however: they will have to be parked elsewhere for the day.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[02] Cassoulides: Solution by June depends on Turkish side's honesty

FOREIGN Minister Ioannis Cassoulides said yesterday that a solution to the Cyprus problem could be reached by June if the Turkish side showed honesty at the January talks.

Cassoulides argued that Turkey's plans for international acknowledgement of the Turkish Cypriot regime had been ruined. "Cyprus made some good efforts in 2001," said Cassoulides. "The European Court's verdict against Turkey blocked its ambitions regarding the status of the breakaway regime and the Turkish lobby has failed to affect the Islamic world's opinion on the matter."

He also felt that Cyprus' negotiations with the EU had acted as a catalyst for the resumption of talks. "I don't know if the EU factor will affect the January talks positively, but if it does not the dividing line will not endure considering the dynamic created by Cyprus' accession," he said.

The foreign minister's statements were made on the eve of the dinner tonight between President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash at Clerides' residence in Nicosia.

This will be the first time since the 1974 invasion that Denktash will have crossed into the southern part of the island. President Clerides made the first move on December 5 when he crossed to the north to dine with Denktash at his residence.

Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit yesterday appeared optimistic that the meeting would prepare the ground for substantial negotiations which would lead to the solution of the Cyprus problem.

Around 200 members of the media from Cyprus and abroad are expected to cover the dinner tonight.

Meanwhile, some groups plan to protest against the dinner. The Initiative Group, made up of several refugee associations, said yesterday it would stage a demonstration charging that the dinner in question "downgrades the status of the Cyprus Republic and amounts to acknowledgement of the Denktash regime".

The Committee for the Relatives of Missing Persons said it was planning a peaceful protest and New Horizons' youth branch Nei Argonavtes yesterday condemned Clerides' action to invite Denktash over for dinner. The group plans to distribute information material today "to raise awareness about the situation".

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[03] Al Qaeda 'bought boat in Cyprus to fund terror'

American investigators believe that the $450,000 cash purchase was at the time one of the largest made by companies under the control of Saudi-born terrorist Osama bin Laden.

According to the newspaper, two men from the Middle East brought a vessel in Limassol in 1994, setting up two front companies in Cyprus to do so.

An unnamed Cypriot accountancy firm and lawyer did the routine work, enlisted by Wadih El Hage, a convicted terrorist now serving a life sentence, the paper reported.

El Hage, a naturalised American citizen, was bin Laden's personal secretary in Sudan in the early 1990s. He travelled widely on his behalf, making purchases and setting up front companies.

The unnamed Cypriot lawyer was told to send all the legal particulars to an address in Hamburg.

The recipient was Mamoun Darkazanli, whom German investigators suspect of being part of a terror cell which supported the September 11 attacks on the US.

The deal is reported to have been arranged between July 1993 and April 1994. A 224-foot freighter, then called Jennifer, was bought from a German sea captain called Claus Darley.

The lawyer told the newspaper that the ship would have failed Cypriot standards, so a third company was created in Malta where standards were less restrictive, the paper said.

After the sale, the vessel was repaired in Limassol.

After the sale, the ship was named Seastar and was used to transport sesame and watermelon seeds all over the Red Sea.

No concrete evidence ties it to a terror attack.

The only tenuous link is that it set sail from Jeddah a day before a November 1995 car bomb exploded in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. Seven people were killed in the explosion, including five US civil servants.

In 1996 the Seastar was re-sold to a Norwegian company controlled by a group of Somalis, now under the microscope for "suspected ties" to al Qaeda.

But the boat sank 18 months ago off the coast of Oman.

Al Qaeda feeds off a far-reaching network of legitimate businesses, ranging from construction to agriculture to an investment firm to generate funds to support terrorism.

Investigators believe the network owns at least 20 ships. They fear bin Laden might try to use one of them to escape from the clutches of the American military, the paper said.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[04] Shopkeepers demand tighter controls on discounting

FORTY per cent of medium and small-sized shops could be driven out of business because of unregulated hypermarket discounts, shopkeepers' union POVEK warned yesterday.

The union and a delegation of Larnaca small shopkeepers yesterday demanded tighter controls from Commerce Minister Nicos Rolandis. He said he would study their petition, but pointed out that regulating prices was the responsibility of the Consumer Protection Service, not his ministry.

Despite acknowledging the threat to small shopkeepers, the Consumer Protection Service has said it considers discount offers by hypermarkets to be completely legitimate, provided marketing schemes do not violate trade description laws and comparative advertising legislation. This stance has been criticised by POVEK, which has accused that the Consumer Protection Service of protecting the interests of big business.

The issue has resurfaced over the holiday period, with hypermarkets offering a variety of discount schemes and selling goods at below-cost price. As a result, a large number of fruit and meat shops have been unable to compete.

POVEK has urged the Commerce Ministry to enact legislation prohibiting the sale of goods at below-cost prices, in line with laws implemented in France and Greece; the EU as a whole has no uniform legislation on the matter.

Rolandis' response yesterday was that prohibiting such practices would, for the time being, be illegal. "What do you want me to do, break the law?" the minister replied to repeated questioning by reporters yesterday.

Despite pointing out his ministry was not directly responsible for market competition issues, Rolandis yesterday agreed to forward POVEK's petition to the Consumer Protection Service. He also acknowledged the lack of adequate controls might be because of insufficient staffing of the Consumer Protection service. He also pledged to personally examine any specific cases brought to his attention by POVEK.

Meanwhile the independent Cyprus Consumers' Association said that it supported competition and offers that were clear-cut and fair. Association chairman Dinos Ioannou said, however, that many supermarkets often misled consumers, for example by offering coupons when shoppers expected to get actual price discounts.

The shopkeepers have taken up their cause with parliament, but have been offered little more than promises. Deputy Lefteris Christoforou, who chairs the House Commerce Committee, said yesterday a balance needed to be struck between hypermarkets' unbridled expansion and keeping small shopkeepers in business.

Other deputies, such as opposition AKEL's Georgos Lilikas, have suggested copying the model employed in France, where the population of a city determines the number, geographical position and size of hypermarkets. Evidently referring to Nicosia, Lilikas yesterday wondered whether "it is really reasonable for a city of 200,000 to have six huge hypermarkets".

POVEK chairman Melios Georgiou yesterday said he wondered whether any action would be taken in time for next year's Christmas holidays.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[05] More remands in 'fake claims' case

THE FIANCEE of a suspect held in connection with the staging of fake accidents and obtaining thousands of pounds in insurance claims told another suspect to get rid of a car sought by police and then flee abroad, Nicosia District Court heard yesterday.

Three more suspects, including a police officer, were remanded in custody for eight days suspected of defrauding insurance companies by staging fake accidents between January 2000 and September this year.

Two suspects already in custody, car body repair garage owner Andreas Antoniou and his employee Harris Tsiakkas, both 27, were re-remanded for five days yesterday.

The three, Antoniou's fiancée, 24-year-old Andri Panteli, marine police officer Marios Aristidou, 23, both from Limassol, and 27-year-old Marios Andreou from Paphos were arrested on Thursday for alleged involvement in nine fake accident claims.

Police told the court that on January 15 this year Andreou filed an insurance claim saying that while driving his car the day before, he cut off a car driven by Panteli, and they collided. Panteli's car was taken to Antoniou's garage for repairs.

But police told the court that Panteli's car had been involved in a real collision back in September 2000 and that the damage claimed by Andreou in January was allegedly identical to that caused in the September accident.

The court heard that on March 27, 2001, Aristidou filed a claim that he had hit the rear of a car driven by Panteli who subsequently hit the car in front of her, which then collided with a van.

Both Panteli's and Aristidou's cars were taken to Antoniou's garage for repairs.

Panteli received £8,200 for damage to her vehicle, but police told the court that the declared damage did not fit the way the accident allegedly happened.

In a third case on June 6 this year, Aristidou filed a claim that while driving in Larnaca he lost control of his vehicle and crashed into the back of a parked car.

The cars were taken to Antoniou's garage in Limassol.

Police told the court that Antoniou received £19,000 for the damage to the second car.

But police said they had written testimony from a government department that the same car had been inspected the day before the alleged accident and was found to have identical damage to that listed in the insurance claim.

The court also heard that while Aristidou's car had been covered he asked a different insurance company to issue a cover note. That was the company which paid the £19,000, police said.

Police said all nine incidents happened at night and no injuries were ever reported, despite serious damage on several occasions.

The court was told that immediately after Antoniou's arrest last week, his fiancée allegedly instructed Andreou to get rid of a car sought by police and to get out of the country.

The next day Andreou allegedly torched the vehicle after removing the chassis serial number to prevent police from identifying it.

Police said more arrests were imminent and requested the suspects' remand for eight days.

Despite objections from the defence, Judge Michalis Papamichael granted the request and ordered police to provide every help to Panteli who is two months pregnant and is on a special diet.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[06] CSE hopes for a happier New Year

The all-share index closed down 1.09 per cent at 129.92 as the FTSE dipped 0.06 per cent to close at 520.37 with volume hovering at the £9.07 million mark.

The bulk of trading was shared almost evenly between the banks, manufacturing and insurance sectors, while 'other' companies topped the list at 32.18 per cent.

But a couple of big company deals meant the real volume was less than half of the total shown on the calculator.

"True turnover is definitely less than half the total, and I think that the investors are staying on the sideline, waiting for good news," said stockbroker Stavros Agrotis.

"We haven't had the window dressing we normally get at the end of the year. Companies have taken the view that it's been a bad year and they've lost anyway. No small percentage increase will change the overall feel of the market for shareholders. Everyone's hoping for a better 2002," he added.

It's not clear if 2002 will bring the much-need good tidings for investors.

"It's a little worrying because during the closed period in January, companies won't be able to buy from the market to stabilise their shares, so January and February will be negative. It won't be a surprise to say that we may go back to 115 or lower," said broker Demos Stavrides.

"That will have an affect, but not on the banks and the more serious companies," said Agrotis.

Analysts are desperate for 2002 to bring a much-needed trend to the market. Factors likely to provoke that could be progress in the proximity talks on Cyprus, due to resume in January, the implementation of the tax package, Brussells' final approval of the country's entry into the European Union at the end of 2002, or the Olympics.

Yesterday's biggest gainers were Karges Investments, up 14.73 per cent, Triena Investments (up 13.16 per cent), CCC Holdings (12.38 per cent) and Laser Investments (up 11.62 per cent).

The largest losers were Triena Investments Capital, down 12.50 per cent, Europrofit Capital (down 8.92 per cent) and Transoccer Holdings (down 7.75 per cent).

Bank of Cyprus dipped as low as £1.88, but closed at £1.90; Cyprus Popular Bank was up one cent to £1.56 and Hellenic Bank up two cents to 89 cents.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[07] Boy, 6, seriously hurt in accident

At around 4.45pm on Thursday, Stelios Panayiotis Zapheiris was knocked down as he tried to cross Gregoris Afxentiou Street in Kornos village. The boy was rushed to Larnaca General Hospital where doctors described his injuries as serious. He is being treated for head injuries, fractured ribs and bruising.

Just 25 minutes earlier, a 75-year-old English tourist was knocked down in Makarios Avenue in Larnaca. She was taken to hospital with concussion.

Yesterday a Nicosia municipal truck overturned on the motorway about 14km outside the capital at around 9am, reducing traffic to one lane for two hours.

The driver of the truck, carrying dirty laundry and heading towards Limassol, collided with a van at around 9am. The laundry truck flipped onto its side. The driver was taken to hospital for whiplash injuries and the driver of the other vehicle was treated for scratches and bruises.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[08] Plea for blood donors

The Head of Medical Services, Constantinos Mallis, said that normally 120 bottles of blood are kept in reserve for the weekend, but that the blood bank only had 90 bottles in stock yesterday.

"We are calling for donors to cover our needs for the weekend in case of emergency accidents," he said. "Unfortunately during all holiday periods such as Christmas, as well as Easter and around August 15, more blood is used because there are more traffic accidents, and there fewer people around to donate more."

Limassol may not have a decreased supply of blood in store, but it does not perform specialised operations that involve a lot of blood, such as neurosurgery or heart surgery, said Mallis.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[09] Pipeline danger warning

The 500-metre long pipeline installed in the sea area of Dhekelia is used by the desalination unit. The danger area is beneath a buoy just 250 metres off the shore, a popular spot for divers and fishermen.

The pipeline's operators yesterday issued an emergency announcement warning people to stay away from the area. The opening in the pipe has been temporarily covered with a net since the damage is not expected to be repaired before March.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

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