Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 03-02-04

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Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 03-02-04

Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

Tuesday, February 4, 2002

[01] Nautical tourism? Not with these taxes
[02] Parties row over 'engineered' polls
[03] Tehran court awards Cyprus-based businessman half a billion dollars in suit against the US
[04] Ministry to test string of cancer hot spots
[05] Court rules British businessman was legally deported
[06] Pro-solution groups step up activity ahead of deadline

[01] Nautical tourism? Not with these taxes

By Stefanos Evripidou

FISCAL reforms are taxing yacht owners out of Cyprus, with 12 having already set sail, taking their boats and business to cheaper shores.

More are expected to follow suit, at a time when the government is inviting tenders for the building of four new marinas as part of efforts to expand nautical tourism.

"We have become the most expensive country in Europe with, what is in effect a 38 per cent tax on boats. It makes no commercial sense whatsoever, either for business or tax revenue, and the consequences on nautical tourism will be huge," said Haris Kyriakides, President of the Cyprus Marine Commerce and Industry Association (CMCIA).

Referring to the pleasure boat tax set under the last wave of tax reforms, Kyriakides said, "Boat owners are left with two choices, either they pay or they leave. And I don't think anyone is willing to pay."

Previously, tax was set at 10 per cent for luxury yachts plus VAT. Now, authorities have doubled excise duty to 20 per cent, while VAT has risen to 15 per cent on the cost plus duty, in effect setting a 38 per cent levy on both Cypriot and foreign-owned yachts.

The effects of the tax are already being felt, according to Kyriakides, who knows of at least 12 yacht owners who have left, while many more have stated their unwillingness to dish out taxes that amount to a third of the cost of the boat.

Boat owners were previously allowed to berth at the marinas tax-free if they had a tax exemption form, C104. The law now states that anyone who spends more than 185 days in Cyprus and buys a boat or owns a boat is subject to the new tax.

"It will be cheaper for boat owners to go to any other European country, where they only have to pay VAT. If they are based there for six months of the year, they are then able to park their boat in any other EU country tax- free. Given that the highest VAT in Europe is 25 per cent in Denmark, there is absolutely no incentive to stay in Cyprus. We are the only ones who levy excise duty plus VAT," said Kyriakides.

According to studies by the CMCIA, tax revenue from the new scheme will not outweigh the business created from luxury boats, in terms of crew, maintenance and berthing costs.

"Many yacht owners have told me that they would be willing to stay if they had to pay VAT only, like other EU nations. Otherwise, not only will people leave, but businesses will go too, and the revenue they create. Nobody has bought a boat since the tax came into effect and many have cancelled their orders. As soon as people's annual tax exemption form expires, a lot more will follow suit," said Kyriakides.

The CMCIA will be meeting with party leaders and the government after the elections, said its president, adding that previous efforts to find out why the tax rate was so high came up with nothing other than the answer that it was a way to make up for tax cuts elsewhere.

[02] Parties row over 'engineered' polls

PRESIDENTIAL candidates and their spin-doctors upped the ante yesterday in the wake of the latest opinion polls and amid reports that the UN's Plan 3 was on the cards.

AMER's poll published over the weekend gave presidential hopeful Tassos Papadopoulos 51.9 per cent of the votes, enough to win the elections from the first round. Incumbent president Glafcos Clerides trailed with 33.5 per cent, and Attorney-general Alecos Markides was third with 9.5 per cent.

The results sparked a row over the validity of opinion polls, which have been in constant supply over the past few weeks. Markides spoke of election- campaign "trickery", insisting that his own research proved beyond a shadow of a doubt he would progress to round two. His spokesperson Prodromos Prodromou issued a written statement yesterday denouncing the "unacceptable practices and professional ethics" by certain newspapers publishing polls. "Clearly," Prodromou claimed, "this is aimed at damaging our candidacy because our opponents fear the momentum it is gathering".

"They are turning polls into trash," went on Prodromou, who was particularly critical of phone surveys, which, he said, lacked any scientific methodology.

"Opinion polls are a highly useful tool in gauging the public's preferences, " insisted an announcement by opposition DIKO. The party's election spokesman Marios Karoyian said that "some quarters are panicking once they have realised that Papadopoulos' popularity is rising and may even prove enough to win the elections from the first round."

A middle-of-the-road approach was adopted by Yiannakis Omirou, chairman of socialist KISOS. Although upbeat that the Papadopoulos alliance would be victorious, Omirou said that scientific studies have shown polls have little to no effect on the public. "So if in fact opinion polls are being 'engineered' -- as some people protest -- then it's probably all in vain anyway."

Meanwhile an entirely different picture was painted in a survey published by Alithia newspaper, affiliated to the ruling DISY party that is backing the Clerides candidacy. In this case, the incumbent president was just two percentage points behind Papadopoulos.

For his part, New Horizons chairman Nikos Koutsou discredited poll-taking altogether, saying surveys served to create false impressions.

On the political level, counter-accusations of inability to handle the Cyprus problem intensified yesterday. The opposition alliance said the government was deliberately cultivating an alarmist climate in a bid to "scare people" into voting for Clerides, who was portrayed as a sort of Messiah by ruling DISY. The coalition camp also fired at Markides, saying he had shifted his stance on the Cyprus issue since running for the office.

DISY boss Nicos Anastassiades countered by labelling Papadopoulos a "rejectionist" who would "bury any settlement plan".

Ten candidates are running for the top office -- four mainstream political candidates, and six fringe independents.

[03] Tehran court awards Cyprus-based businessman half a billion dollars in suit against the US

By Jean Christou

An Iranian-born Cypriot businessman kidnapped by American agents in 1992 on suspicion of violating sanctions against Libya has won half a billion dollars in damages against the US in a Tehran court.

Hossein Alikhani, who runs the Nicosia-based Centre for World Dialogue, a non-profit organisation that promotes dialogue and reconciliation in global conflicts, said he was very happy with the outcome of his landmark case, which received extensive coverage in an article in the influential US Christian Science Monitor yesterday.

"Finding justice in any court makes you happy," he told the Cyprus Mail yesterday, adding that he believed he had every cent chance of obtaining his $550 million "one day".

Alikhani was set up in a sting operation by US customs agents in 1992 after his Cyprus-based company sought $1.6 million worth of spare parts for gas generators from a Florida company, to be later shipped to Libya.

Because of the US sanctions on Libya, the American company reported the request to the authorities, which then set up a sting operation to lure Alikhani to the Bahamas. He was arrested there during an excursion aboard a private aircraft and taken to Florida where he was interrogated at various hotels, shackled to his bed for the first 30 days before being moved to a Miami prison.

After co-operating with the authorities, he was jailed for violating US sanctions against Libya, even though he was not bound by the American embargo; after pleading guilty to conspiracy in February 1993, he was sentenced to time already served and released after an intervention by the US Congress.

Alikhani subsequently tried -- unsuccessfully -- to file for damages in a Florida court, then two years ago decided to turn the tables on the US by using one of their own laws.

The law allows Americans who have been victims of countries listed by the State Department as sponsoring terrorism to file lawsuits against those countries in US courts. Alikhani said Terry Anderson, a hostage held in Lebanon during the 1980s, had been awarded $341 million and had already collected $80 million in compensation through this legal process, which the Iranian businessman described as a "very bad law".

"Those who were held hostage in Lebanon are suing Iran for allegedly financing Hizbollah," he said, adding that the damages were being paid from Iranian assets in the US, which broke diplomatic ties with Tehran in 1980.

"At some stage when ties are renewed, all this will have to be resolved, so I suggested Iran do similar cases so it could have files to match the US ones," Alikhani told the Christian Science Monitor. "I don't want to be a [monkey wrench] in relations between the two countries, but if Iran has to pay compensation, then so does the US."

Alikhani's attorney, Bruce Zagaris of Washington, told the publication that his client's victory could set a precedent for a flood of actions against the US government in Iranian and other foreign courts. Victims of Iraqi chemical-weapons attacks, for example, could sue the US for supporting Iraq in the eight-year war against Iran in the 1980s, the paper said.

It added that Alikhani drew a distinction between his case and those of Westerners held in Lebanon by pro-Iranian groups. "My case is directly related to the US, but with the Lebanese hostages, there was no direct connection to Iran. They went for Iran, but they never sued the kidnappers, Hizbollah, or the Lebanese government."

[04] Ministry to test string of cancer hot spots

By Alex Mita

COMPLAINTS of an increase in the number of cancer and leukaemia among residents in Lakatamia and Ayios Dhometios in Nicosia have prompted the Health Ministry to launch a large-scale medical investigation across the island, an official confirmed.

Speaking to the Cyprus Mail yesterday, Andreas Georgiou said the Ministry would first conduct preliminary investigations before deciding whether to launch a full-scale investigation into the issue.

"There have been letters from residents, Mukhtars and even the House, complaining of an increase in cancer and leukaemia cases," Georgiou said.

Georgiou said the medical examinations would begin in the areas of Kato Lakatamia and Ayios Dhometios, then extend to Ayios Georgios at Vrysoulles, Argakas, Timi, Aradhippou, Polemidia, Kornos and Karavostassi, the latter if the authorities in the north give their consent.

"We already conducted a pilot study at Kato Lakatamia," he said.

"We recorded the number of cancer and leukaemia incidents in order to examine their possible relation with environmental factors such as electromagnetic fields, toxic chemical substances and other factors."

Georgiou said a special investigation into the use of Asbestos was also expected to be launched in April after being approved by the Planning Bureau.

[05] Court rules British businessman was legally deported

By Jean Christou

BRITISH businessman Graham Cockroft, who was thrown out of Cyprus in 2001, was legally deported, the Supreme Court has ruled.

Cockroft, 56, ran a Cyprus-based company Rockpool Homes Ltd in a joint venture with Cypriot partners in Pissouri to build solar-powered houses; he was deported in August 2001, with only the clothes on his back.

He later filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, which, has now ruled his deportation was legal. Cockroft always claimed he did not know why he was deported, but claimed local competition had pulled strings to have him thrown out of the country after 10 years on the island. He said no one told him or his lawyer why he was deported other than mentioning vague allegations that he was involved in property deals in the Turkish-occupied north of the island.

But according to the authorities, Cockroft was living in Cyprus without permission and was exercising a profession without a permit. He was also accused of having a website advertising not only holidays in occupied areas but also the sale of immovable property there.

Commenting on the Supreme Court's decision, Cockroft claimed yesterday he had been deported for having a web page.

"I was arrested, jailed, assaulted, kept outside in freezing conditions, twice. for having a web page. I had no trial and no opportunity to defend myself," he said. He said he would be taking his case to the European Court of Human Rights.

"The repercussions of the Cyprus Department of Immigration's actions have caused my Cypriot partner to be in court for bankruptcy. My other Cypriot partner had a heart attack through the strain and I'm next for both, as it resulted in the closure of our joint business, resulting in massive debt for all three of us."

[06] Pro-solution groups step up activity ahead of deadline

PRO-solution movements and rapprochement groups are engaged in a flurry of activity ahead of the February 28 deadline and the expected submittal of a third amended UN plan.

Larnaca's American Academy alumni are planning a get-together of all Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots who went to school together from 1970- 74. The meeting is scheduled for next Saturday at Pyla village near the demarcation line.

On January 8 a group of former AA students met for the first time after the war, and decided to follow up.

The American Academy and the English School were among the very few schools attended by both Greek and Turkish Cypriot students.

The unusual reunion is being jointly organised by former students on both sides of the island, who communicate via e-mail.

Meanwhile a new movement called "Platform for a Solution: Reunification Now" held its first event on Saturday at the International Conference Centre in Nicosia. Sitting on the panel were prominent psychiatrist Yiangos Mikkelides and Cyprus University professor Niazi Kizilyurek. Following the talk, the group headed to the Roccas bastion at Paphos Gate for a cultural programme and a tree-planting ceremony.

The pro-solution group sees the Annan plan as a solid stepping-stone to a settlement, and has blasted Greek Cypriot politicians for prejudicing the public against it. The Platform's resolution voiced sympathy for the Turkish Cypriots' movement, and urged the Turkish government to "change its sterile policy of negativity".

Adopting a constructive attitude toward the UN-sponsored plan, the Platform focuses on its positive points, for example the return of a substantial percentage of refugees to their homes and the withdrawal of most Turkish occupation forces.

Saturday's event was covered by eight TV channels in the northern breakaway regime and Turkey, the BBC and a German TV channel.

A number of bi-communal co-operation groups are affiliated to the Platform, which is planning a string of events in the near future.

In a related story, an opinion poll published by Kathimerini in Greece showed that 75 per cent of Greek Cypriots preferred a settlement rather than the status quo. Moreover, 55 per cent of respondents believed the two communities could live in relative harmony after reunification. A breakdown of the statistics revealed that younger age groups (18-35) were more wary of living alongside Turkish Cypriots.

Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 03-02-04

Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

Tuesday, February 4, 2002

CONTENTS

[01] Nautical tourism? Not with these taxes

[02] Parties row over 'engineered' polls

[03] Tehran court awards Cyprus-based businessman half a billion dollars in suit against the US

[04] Ministry to test string of cancer hot spots

[05] Court rules British businessman was legally deported

[06] Pro-solution groups step up activity ahead of deadline

Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article