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Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 02-01-13
Sunday, January 13, 2002
CONTENTS
[01] De Soto arrives for Clerides-Denktash talks
[02] Relatives hope missing persons issue can now be resolved
[03] Outbreak of scabies in Paphos
[04] Three killed on the roads in less than 12 hours
[05] Tops for births and emigration
[01] De Soto arrives for Clerides-Denktash talks
ALVARO de Soto, UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan's special adviser on Cyprus,
arrives on the island this afternoon for the start of direct talks between
President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash on
Wednesday. De Soto will be accompanied by his assistant Robert Dann, who
will also be present at the talks that were agreed on in early December by
Clerides and Denktash and that will be conducted under the good offices
mission of the UN Secretary-general. Before the talks begin, de Soto is
likely to consult with Clerides and Denktash separately on procedural
matters. The talks will take place within the UN-controlled Nicosia
international airport where special facilities are being prepared. Ten
rounds of direct talks are expected to take place in Nicosia and another
round in New York. De Soto, who conducted five rounds of proximity talks
between the two sides between December 1999 and November 2000, is expected
to put forward a draft comprehensive agreement at the appropriate time for
consideration. His team for the talks will include Swiss constitutional
expert Didier Psirter and aide Madeline Garlick, who has been involved in
property matters in Bosnia and is currently with the UN on the island.
Copyright Cyprus Mail 2002
[02] Relatives hope missing persons issue can now be resolved
By Jean Christou RELATIVES of missing persons are cautiously optimistic the
issue can be resolved following two meetings on Friday between President
Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash. Nicos Theodosiou,
chairman of the Committee of Relatives of Missing Persons, (CNA) said
yesterday that they would also be putting forward their own suggestions to
help move the process forward. "We continue to be cautiously optimistic and
are pleased that the President and Denktash are discussing practical steps
for progress, as we believe this is something that would make walking away
from the process of solving the problem more difficult," Theodosiou told
the Cyprus News Agency. Setting a timetable for implementing such steps
could make a lot of difference to resolving the problem and would make it
more difficult for anyone to abandon future efforts to settle the issue, he
added. On Friday Clerides and Denktash decided to put in writing a series
of suggestions on practical steps to move ahead with the issue with a view
to drafting an outline agreement. The last time Clerides and Denktash met
on the missing persons issue was in July 1997 when they agreed to exchange
information on the whereabouts of the remains of missing persons on both
sides. But the agreement collapsed when the Turkish Cypriot side withdrew
six months later. Theodosiou said the Committee does not want to see the
July agreement nullified nor does he believe that any new document on the
issue of missing persons would create problems in the implementation of the
agreement. "I believe that if we set out concrete steps for progress
coupled with a defined timetable, we shall see a difference from previous
approaches, and this would make any deviation from what is agreed more
difficult," he said. Friday's meetings, in the presence of UN Chief of
Mission and Acting Special Representative of the UN Secretary-general,
Zbigniew Wlosowicz, took place in a positive atmosphere with the two
leaders expressing their readiness to settle this issue to the satisfaction
of both sides. "The two leaders now want to renew their commitment to the
resolution of this problem and wish to present something more concrete than
the July 1997 agreement on the missing, which was not really executed,"
sources close to the meeting told CNA. Commenting yesterday, Wlosowicz told
CNA the meetings were very productive: "I was impressed by the positive
approach of both leaders in solving the problem." The identification of
remains from two cemeteries in Nicosia through DNA testing has helped
reduce the original list of 1,629 Greek Cypriot missing persons to 1,480.
The Turkish Cypriot side lists some 800 people missing between the outbreak
of intercommunal troubles in December 1963 and the Turkish invasion ten and
a half years later.
Copyright Cyprus Mail 2002
[03] Outbreak of scabies in Paphos
By Alexia Saoulli THREE cases of scabies have surfaced in Paphos, a
hospital doctor confirmed yesterday. The first case of the highly
contagious skin disorder came to light just over 10 days ago when a
dermatology expert from Nicosia diagnosed more than 25 patients and staff
with it at a Limassol hospital. It was determined that the scabies had been
introduced to the hospital by a geriatric patient from a local old people's
home. Since then Health Minister Frixos Savvides has said all homes must be
examined for the condition. Now the parasite has surfaced in Paphos,
diagnosed when three gypsies visited the General Hospital there, displaying
advanced symptoms. "They had obviously had the condition for quite a while,
" said the duty doctor yesterday, "because the rash and itching was at
quite an advanced stage." Unfortunately the mother and her two children had
visited the hospital late in the evening when the staff dermatologist was
not on duty. An appointment was made for them to visit the dermatologist
the following day, and the Ministry of Health was notified of the outbreak.
Press yesterday said the gypsies did not show up for the appointment,
however, and the Health Ministry is arranging for dermatologists to visit
Ayios Yiannis village in the Paphos district tomorrow to gauge to what
extent the skin condition has spread. The three are reported to have
crossed from the occupied areas last year, and have been living in the
village with another 10 gypsies since then. "If they have been living in
close quarters with a number of other individuals, it will definitely have
passed from one person to another," the Paphos doctor said. Scabies is
spread by personal contact -- shaking hands, sleeping together, and close
contact with infected articles such as clothing, bedding or towels. It is
usually found where people are crowded together or have frequent contact,
and is most common among schoolchildren, families, room-mates, and sexual
partners. To prevent reinfestation, medical experts say all clothes, towels
and bedding should be thoroughly laundered once treatment commences, and
these items must be changed regularly. Combs, brushes and anything with
which the infected person has had contact should be soaked in hot water,
and children should not share clothing or other personal articles such as
hairbrushes, combs or towels with another.
Copyright Cyprus Mail 2002
[04] Three killed on the roads in less than 12 hours
By Alexia Saoulli THREE people were killed in car accidents in Paphos and
Nicosia yesterday, bringing to nine the number of road deaths since January
1 -- three more than over the same period last year. Victoria Gorokhovka,
24, died shortly after 1.40am when her car collided with another at the
Danais Avenue traffic lights in Paphos, under circumstances police say are
still being investigated. She was taken to Paphos General Hospital where
she was pronounced dead. Gorokhovka, from the Ukraine, had been married to
a Cypriot and was living in Paphos. The condition of 23-year-old Ioannis
Gravitis, the driver of the other car, is described as critical. He is
married and has a child. The second accident was outside Nicosia at 4.30am.
Achilleas Christodoulou, 20, was driving on the Palechori to Anthoupolis
road when his car swerved off the road into an adjacent field and hit a
tree. He was thrown from the vehicle and killed, said police. Preliminary
investigations suggest he was not wearing a seatbelt. The third fatality
was 78-year-old Nicholas Evdokimou, who was killed at 10.15am as he was
cycling along Electra Street in Lakatamia. He was knocked over and dragged
along by a light truck driven by a 36-year-old Lakatamia resident, police
said. Police gave the truck driver a breathalyser test which he passed.
They are investigating the cause of the accident. Last year, six people
were killed on the roads between January 1 and 12.
Copyright Cyprus Mail 2002
[05] Tops for births and emigration
CYPRUS has the highest birth rate and emigration rate per thousand of
population of all the European Union candidate countries, a European
Commission survey has revealed. It comes second to Malta for the lowest
number of deaths per thousand. Compared with EU member states, Cyprus has
the second lowest death rate per thousand, and it ranks joint third with
Ireland for the highest number of migrants per thousand. The island is
fifth in the birth-rate table per thousand compared with other EU
countries. Ireland holds the number one position. With a birth rate of 12.1
per thousand, Cyprus has more new-borns than Britain, Greece and Germany,
while the island also has a higher emigration rate at 5.2 per thousand than
these three countries. France has the lowest emigration rate at 1 per
thousand while Spain has the highest with 6.2. Cyprus registers 8.6 per
thousand deaths a year, compared with 13.8 in Latvia, 10.2 in Britain, and
9.5 in Greece. The lowest death rate is in Ireland, which registers 7.5 per
thousand.
Copyright Cyprus Mail 2002
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