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Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 03-02-20
Thursday, February 20, 2003
CONTENTS
[01] Cassoulides hints at DISY leadership challengeBy George
PsyllidesFOREIGN MINISTER Yiannakis Cassoulides said yesterday he would
consider a challenge for the DISY leadership if he felt it might contribute
to party unity.The party has been in turmoil since Sunday's presidential
election defeat, with party leader Nicos Anastassiades seeking the
expulsion of rebels he blames for President Glafcos Clerides' failure to
secure re-election.Yesterday, Cassoulides gave the first suggestion of a
leadership challenge.“I would think about it, as any other member (of DISY),
and if I judge that it would contribute to the unity and the strengthening
of DISY, then possibly I would be a candidate,” Cassoulides said.He
stressed he had nothing to do with those members of the party who had
disobeyed the decision to support President Clerides and ultimately hurt
his candidacy by backing Attorney-general Alecos Markides.Cassoulides said
the rebels should engage in self-criticism before the party's bodies, as he
himself would do.“The final solutions will be given by the base of the
party, all the members, in one electoral congress,” he said.Cassoulides
suggested the problems within DISY would only be solved with composure,
collective action and “a spirit of unity”, and reminded members that when
Clerides was party leader, everything was resolved through transparent
procedures with the participation of the DISY grassroots.Asked whether
Anastassiades had made mistakes, Cassoulides said: “we all made mistakes,”
noting that Saturday's supreme council meeting would study the causes of
the election defeat.Cassoulides suggested Markides, a former member of DISY,
had made big mistakes, hurting Clerides with the political arguments he
used in the election campaign.Anastassiades said yesterday the electoral
congress was expected to deal with all the issues currently facing the
party.But it seemed yesterday that Anastassiades, who on Sunday lashed out
against the rebels saying they would be expelled, was softening his line,
amid fears that their expulsion could cause a huge rift in the party, which
would spill over in the House.Expelling the 'five' - three of whom are
deputies - would effectively mean handing over a parliamentary
representation to Markides, making DISY's minority position in the House
even worse, while at the same time providing the impetus to the outgoing
Attorney-general to create his own political movement.Anastassiades
conceded he had initially voiced views to expel the five, but there were
now second thoughts, “more calm and collected thoughts”, so the supreme
council would decide on whether to take disciplinary measures.Asked whether
he would table the proposal for the expulsion on Saturday, Anastassiades
said: “it will become obvious”.The DISY chief said it was urgent to summon
the electoral congress so that the base of the party could elect a
strengthened leadership and give the party a different course.Anastassiades
said he was ready to take on the rebels' challenge for an election and
suggested it would be good for them to attend Saturday's council.He said he
would not allow anyone to pillory or jeer anyone else. On Monday, a group
of party faithful jeered the rebels at the entrance of the DISY building.
One of the rebels, Eleni Vrahimi, described the hecklers as “ruffians”
deliberately recruited to create trouble.But Anastassiades said yesterday
the party had never had ruffians in its ranks, despite what people were
trying to suggest. He said he did not mind Cassoulides running for the
party leadership.“We have a democracy; I don't think democracy ever hurt
anyone.“What hurts is the disregard of democracy, the disregard of the
majority, the lack of respect for the decisions of the party.”
[02] New president in all-day meeting with De SotoBy Jean ChristouPRESIDENT
elect Tassos Papadopoulos and his new negotiating team yesterday met UN
envoy Alvaro de Soto to decide the next move in the Cyprus talks, nine days
before the deadline to reach an agreement.Attorney-general Alecos Markides,
who was the senior negotiator for outgoing president Glafcos Clerides,
accompanied Papadopoulos and his new team, Kypros Chyrsostomides and
Tomazos Tselepis. The president elect also met Clerides early in the
morning.Tselepis is a member of the central committee of the communist
party, AKEL, and Chrysostomides is a lawyer and former member of
Papadopoulos' party DIKO, as well as the tripartite alliance's losing
candidate for Nicosia mayor in the last municipal elections. Both men are
constitutional experts.The meeting between De Soto and the new team lasted
two hours yesterday morning and resumed in the afternoon. No statements
were made after the morning meeting, but De Soto told reporters following a
meeting with Clerides that Papadopoulos had expressed his desire to start
the negotiations as soon as possible.Both yesterday's and Monday's regular
talks between Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash were
cancelled in view of the outcome of Sunday's elections.This leaves only
tomorrow and Monday for any face-to-face talks between the two leaders
before the arrival on the island of UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan next
Wednesday, and another two days before the UN deadline for an agreement
expires on February 28, the day Papadopoulos will be officially sworn in as
President.De Soto said his understanding was that Papadopoulos wanted to
get into the negotiations as quickly as possible. “I welcome it,” he
said.He added that Clerides would be “going over” the UN plan with
Papadopoulos and was ready to answer any questions.“I hope that this will
contribute to making progress in the coming days,” De Soto said, but he
could not say when the direct talks would resume.Asked to comment on
statements by Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul that Annan had prepared a
third version of the plan, De Soto said he was not sure what Gul meant. He
said Gul had met Annan in Brussels but that he didn't know what was
discussed.“Everybody seems to be talking about the SG's new plan. We shall
have to see”, he said.Reports from Turkey yesterday said Ankara had warned
De Soto during his contacts there on Monday about the “bad past” of
Papadopoulos, who is widely seen as a hardliner on the Cyprus
issue.“Papadopoulos is not a leader whose identity and political views are
unknown. On the contrary, he carries with him heavy political baggage,
including an EOKA identity,” Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Yusuf Buluc
told a news conference yesterday. Playing on this, Denktash has become even
more opposed to the UN plan in recent days. In published interviews
yesterday, he honed in on Papadopoulos' reference to all refugees returning
to their homes during his victory speech on Sunday night, when the UN plan
does not provide for this. Denktash said he believed the plan had been
drawn up with the co-operation of the Greek Cypriot side.Commenting on the
February 28 deadline, Denktash said such timeframes were merely designed to
exert pressure on the Turkish Cypriots. “Should these artificial dates
affect us and should we create an atmosphere whereby we say that something
will happen to us if we fail to reach an agreement on that date, then our
bargaining power will diminish or fade completely,” he said.“These dates
should not affect us. We should continue defending the things that we
believe are right, for what shall we do if we fail to defend the things we
believe are right? Well, we would then sign every document that is put
before us in one way or the other.”
[03] AKEL denies rifts over ministriesBy George PsyllidesAKEL yesterday
rejected reports of internal disagreements over the list of names the party
had to propose to take over at least four ministries, in accordance with a
pre-election agreement between opposition parties supporting president
elect Tassos Papadopoulos.Consultations around the formation of the new
cabinet continued yesterday with a meeting between opposition parties in
the morning.The opposition parties are busy drafting their proposals, but
according to reports some disagreement has emerged in AKEL over who should
be on the list.“What is leaked to the media is unacceptable and outside any
journalistic moral and ethos,” AKEL leader Demetris Christofias said
yesterday.He added: “There is no problem in AKEL; first we discuss the
developments in the Cyprus problem and then the participation in the new
government, not in the sense of who would be in the administration but the
role we could play in implementing a people-friendly programme like that of
Mr Papadopoulos.”He said discussions inside the party were conducted in a
spirit of comradeship without any fights.Christofias said the party had not
decided yet whether to propose high-ranking members for ministers, adding
he was expressing a personal view when he said that members of the
secretariat should not be proposed.AKEL spokesman Nicos Katsourides
seconded Christofias in declaring that the party was in “full unity and
harmony” and would handle all the issues in the same spirit it has done so
successfully for the past 15 years.“There is no conflict, no disagreement
and no friction,” Katsourides said.AKEL is expected to finalise its
proposals in the next few days when the party's central committee approves
the names.In DIKO, procedures appeared to be faster, with deputy Nicos
Pittokopitis saying yesterday that the list of names for the party's share
of three ministries should be ready by today.Pittokopitis said Papadopoulos
would make the ultimate decision on who would be included in his cabinet
after he had assessed the parties' proposals.“The president will assess and
decide; he has the exclusive authority and constitutional right and
responsibility,” Pittokopitis said.He suggested that there could be six
candidates for the three ministries.Meanwhile the KISOS political bureau
met yesterday afternoon to discuss the party's proposals for the two
ministries allocated to them.Vice chairman Sophocles Sophocleous said the
party would discuss its participation in the new administration and the
names, which would be submitted to the president elect.
[04] Police step up searches for missing brothersBy Alexia SaoulliAUTHORITIES
yesterday continued their search into the disappearance of two brothers
from Kofinou village in Larnaca.Nicholas Sinesi Kannas, 31, and his 27-year-
old brother Kyriacos have been missing since Saturday. So far no traces of
the brothers have been found.Yesterday, the special rescue unit, EMAK, used
specialised tracing equipment to comb through a total of 16 wells along the
district's farming area. Nothing turned up. EMAK commander Marcos Trangolas
said the equipment had been used in past investigations and was aimed at
locating anything suspicious in the wells' water. In this particular case,
the water levels were such that authorities did not suspect anything out of
the ordinary, he said.Larnaca's Criminal Investigation Division also
searched the Kivisiliou district, which is covered in reeds, ditches and
weeds. Rural officer Theodoros Sergiou stressed police were determined in
their co-ordinated efforts to find the two missing brothers and that they
would continue to be so. But, he added, so far no reason had been found as
to why they had disappeared, nor had ballistics specialists uncovered any
evidence at their farm in Panayia ton Ampelion, outside Kofinou, where they
were last reported seen on Saturday at 1.30pm by a local herder. In Kofinou,
police extended their search to uninhabited Turkish Cypriot houses, and
game service officials focused their search on a vast area surrounding
Stavrovouni Monastery. Nothing suspicious turned up, police said.
Investigators also questioned a number of people who had business dealings
with Nicholas and Kyriacos, in the hope that it would help uncover why they
had disappeared. Meanwhile the brothers' family continued to keep a
watchful eye on the investigations, but avoided making any further comments
as to why the two were missing. Initially, family members had said the men
had been kidnapped and on Tuesday they formed a human chain on the Larnaca-
Limassol and Nicosia-Limassol highway, holding up traffic for 30 minutes in
protest at what they said were inadequate police efforts to locate the
men.“This is a very serious case and we are investigating all possibilities,
” police said.
[05] Central Bank warns of patched up notesBy Stefanos EvripidouPATCHED up
bank notes are circulating on the market duping everyone but the processing
machine at the Central Bank of Cyprus.Pranksters have come up with a time-
consuming but resourceful method to make an extra buck out of every 10.
Bank notes of varying values, sliced up and stuck together, have found
their way to the sorting machines of the Central Bank. The defaced notes
are singled out by the machines for carrying opposing serial numbers while
being a few millimetres short of a full-sized bank note. According to
Central Bank officer, Kyriacos Zingas, about 1.5cm of a bank note is sliced
and removed. The one half of the note is then taped to another half of a
different note but of equal value. The Central Bank has been receiving up
to three defaced notes a day in the last week.“It's a kind of game, but
we're not quite certain what it actually is,” said Zingas. “We want to warn
people to be careful when accepting notes so they don't lose money. The
Central Bank does not have to exchange a defaced bank note which has been
intentionally mutilated,” he added.“On some notes, up to three different
pieces have been stuck together to make a new note. But we don't know what
happened to the missing bits and why they do it,” said Zingas. He said it
was not uncommon for fraudsters to take slices out of different notes and
put them together to make a new one but added that no notes with more than
three different pieces have been found yet. “What's even odder is that they
take a strip out of a note and then stick two or three different notes back
together. We can't see a reason for it other than that someone out there
has a destructive personality.”None of the serial numbers on the mutilated
pieces match each other so far. Zingas highlighted that defaced notes can
only be exchanged if the owner fills in a form giving their details and
reasonable reasons for the mutilation. Half notes can be exchanged using a
similar procedure but only if the other half does not exist.Deliberate
mutilation of bank notes is a criminal offence carrying a sentence of up to
15 years' imprisonment.
[06] One woman standing up to Nicos AnastassiadesBy Sofia KannasDISY member
and barrister Eleni Vrahimi has become the grande dame of Cyprus politics,
standing up to her predominantly male counterparts, and more especially to
DISY boss Nicos Anastassiades after he threatened five party members with
expulsion in the wake of DISY's electoral defeat on Sunday.Vrahimi has felt
for several years that the party leader's behaviour in recent times has
been less than exemplary.“I had the opportunity to work with Mr
Anastassiades since 1997 when he became President of the Party and I was
elected General Secretary.“I didn't know him that well beforehand so I was
not quite aware of his behaviour. I knew he was a good lawyer and a clever
individual so I hoped he would be a successful party leader.“But I noticed
early on that as a party and as members of the political bureau, we were
not working as a group. We could not express out views freely.“He doesn't
let us speak… most of the time we are not permitted to express any view
without being attacked. Because of this I am forced, while being in the
political bureau, to withdraw spiritually.“The difficulties we had with Mr
Anastassiades began before I wrote a letter to him in 1999, in which I made
observations about his behaviour. This behaviour continues today. And it
was not only me who complained about his behaviour, but many others. There
were eight of us at the beginning that he wanted to throw out of the
party.“His behaviour was not proper. We all wanted to express our opinion
without his shouting and his interruptions but he wanted to do what he
wanted to do. He was never a good listener -- he took the decisions, he
spoke to the media and never discussed the issues with us in the political
bureau.”However, Anastassiades' announcement on air last Sunday that five
senior party members -- including Vrahimi herself -- should be expelled for
supporting Glafcos Clerides' election rival Alecos Markides, has provided
his critics with the excuse to fire back.“Now we can speak about these
things because he gave us the opportunity on the night of the
elections.“Instead of being sorry about what happened and perhaps admitting
his own responsibility, and resigning as happens in European countries, he
decided to declare our death… certainly he is doing this to preserve his
own power.“We were the people with a voice in the DISY political bureau --
if he shouted we shouted back. And he didn't like this.Vrahimi dismissed
Anastassiades' threats of expulsion.“He doesn't have the authority to expel
us -- only the Political bureau can do this. And of course he noticed that
he didn't have a majority in the bureau so he decided to go to another body
(the Party's supreme council), which also has no authority to expel us. But
he will give them this authority on Saturday so he will be able to do what
he wants. And this is the reason we will not appear on Saturday.“But if he
takes any decision regarding our expulsion, then this is illegal. I will
remain in the political bureau and in the party and I will not leave when
Mr Anastassiades wants. If I want to leave I will chose the time: it's up
to me it's not up to him.Vrahimi also expressed her concern for the party's
future.“I hope the party will not split but if he carries on in this way it
will happen- (it's future) is not up to us, it's up to him.Vrahimi was also
the only party member to stand against Anastassiades' initial decision
(which was later withdrawn) to support KISOS presidential candidate
Yiannakis Omirou.“I objected because I was confident in what I was saying --
we had no chance of wining the elections with Omirou. Even his own party
split into three when the decision was made to support him. Yet Mr
Anastassiades committed himself to this.“I don't know what he told others
behind closed doors. Personally I refused to speak to him in private
because I had very strong views about Omirou and the elections and I wasn't
going to keep these to myself.“Perhaps he was threatening them (other DISY
members), I don't know. But he couldn't threaten me.”She added that Tassos
Papadopoulos' electoral victory had not come as a surprise.“I knew what the
result of the elections would be -- I had given my opinion in writing even
at the last moment. It was not possible for Mr Clerides to win the
elections when he said he was only going to act only for the solution of
the Cyprus problem and EU accession. People in this country have too many
problems and they wanted to hear what the new president would do to solve
these problems. The people of this country need a president for five years…
not a president for a limited period.”
[07] Cypriot clone doctor: Dolly's death had nothing to do with fact she
was a cloneBy Sofia KannasPANAYIOTIS Zavos, the controversial Cypriot-
American fertility expert involved in the race to produce human clones, has
lashed out at critics who claim Dolly the cloned sheep died prematurely
because she was a clone.His comments came after six-year-old Dolly, the
worlds' first mammal cloned from an adult cell, was put down last week
having been diagnosed with a progressive lung disease.In a statement e-
mailed to the Cyprus Mail, Dr Zavos said Dolly would be sorely missed: “We
are saddened that Dolly, the first cloned mammal, is dead.“Dolly will
always be remembered for what she represented… a cloned animal that was
born healthy,” but also an animal used and abused by the “vicious debate
about cloning.”Zavos was anxious to emphasise his belief that Dolly's death
had nothing to do with the fact she was a clone.He dismissed claims by MIT
Professor of Biology Rudolf Jaenisch that Dolly had an “IQ problem”.According
to Zavos, Jaenisch testified under oath before the US Congress that Dolly's
IQ problem was due to the wrongful effects of cloning.“I cannot forget the
statement by Jaenisch… it is a typical argument made by a reputable
scientist under oath…before a powerful decision-making body. It was quite
ironic and hypocritical, when one knows quite well that Dolly never took
such an IQ test, because such a test doesn't exist.”Zavos said that the
world should learn from Dolly's life:“She had a good life and taught us all
a very powerful lesson that… whether you are brought into this world via
sexual reproductive means or via cloning, you can still enjoy a very good
quality of life on this earth.”Born in 1996, at the Roslin Institute, Dolly
was cloned from the breast cell of a six-year-old adult ewe.Zavos, who
visited Cyprus in March 2001, runs a fertility clinic in Kentucky in the US
and was hoping to deliver a cloned baby at the end of 2002.
[08] EU looking in recruitment drive in acceding countriesBy a Staff
ReporterSofia KannasTHE EUROPEAN Commission yesterday outlined its target
for recruitment of officials from its new member states, meaning over 100
jobs for Cypriot EU officials.The total staff for Cyprus is estimated at
110, including one Director and six middle managers.The announcement comes
as the Commission makes final preparations for enlargement.Commenting
yesterday, Commission President Romano Prodi said:“The forthcoming
enlargement of the EU is the single most important priority of this
Commission. The recruitment of EU officials from incoming Member States
will be a potent symbol of the new face of Europe, and the Commission is
looking forward to their arrival.The addition of the 10 new member states
will enlarge the EU population by 20 per cent, the number of Member States
by 66 per cent and the number of working languages by 82 per cent. The
total number of staff to be recruited from the 10 acceding countries is 3,
341, of which 41 are directors and 189 are middle managers.
[09] Man dies after fallBy a Staff ReporterA 70-YEAR-OLD man from the
Nicosia district yesterday slipped and fell to his death from a forklift
while trying to fix an advertising billboard on the Paphos-Limassol highway,
said police.Spyros Groutas from Dhali village was working on the billboard
sign in the Anaritas district, when, under circumstances that are being
investigated, he fell four metres to the ground. Police said he was rushed
to Paphos general hospital where the duty doctor pronounced him dead.The
exact cause of death will be determined during an autopsy today, police
added.
[01] Cassoulides hints at DISY leadership challengeBy George
PsyllidesFOREIGN MINISTER Yiannakis Cassoulides said yesterday he would
consider a challenge for the DISY leadership if he felt it might contribute
to party unity.The party has been in turmoil since Sunday's presidential
election defeat, with party leader Nicos Anastassiades seeking the
expulsion of rebels he blames for President Glafcos Clerides' failure to
secure re-election.Yesterday, Cassoulides gave the first suggestion of a
leadership challenge.“I would think about it, as any other member (of DISY),
and if I judge that it would contribute to the unity and the strengthening
of DISY, then possibly I would be a candidate,” Cassoulides said.He
stressed he had nothing to do with those members of the party who had
disobeyed the decision to support President Clerides and ultimately hurt
his candidacy by backing Attorney-general Alecos Markides.Cassoulides said
the rebels should engage in self-criticism before the party's bodies, as he
himself would do.“The final solutions will be given by the base of the
party, all the members, in one electoral congress,” he said.Cassoulides
suggested the problems within DISY would only be solved with composure,
collective action and “a spirit of unity”, and reminded members that when
Clerides was party leader, everything was resolved through transparent
procedures with the participation of the DISY grassroots.Asked whether
Anastassiades had made mistakes, Cassoulides said: “we all made mistakes,”
noting that Saturday's supreme council meeting would study the causes of
the election defeat.Cassoulides suggested Markides, a former member of DISY,
had made big mistakes, hurting Clerides with the political arguments he
used in the election campaign.Anastassiades said yesterday the electoral
congress was expected to deal with all the issues currently facing the
party.But it seemed yesterday that Anastassiades, who on Sunday lashed out
against the rebels saying they would be expelled, was softening his line,
amid fears that their expulsion could cause a huge rift in the party, which
would spill over in the House.Expelling the 'five' - three of whom are
deputies - would effectively mean handing over a parliamentary
representation to Markides, making DISY's minority position in the House
even worse, while at the same time providing the impetus to the outgoing
Attorney-general to create his own political movement.Anastassiades
conceded he had initially voiced views to expel the five, but there were
now second thoughts, “more calm and collected thoughts”, so the supreme
council would decide on whether to take disciplinary measures.Asked whether
he would table the proposal for the expulsion on Saturday, Anastassiades
said: “it will become obvious”.The DISY chief said it was urgent to summon
the electoral congress so that the base of the party could elect a
strengthened leadership and give the party a different course.Anastassiades
said he was ready to take on the rebels' challenge for an election and
suggested it would be good for them to attend Saturday's council.He said he
would not allow anyone to pillory or jeer anyone else. On Monday, a group
of party faithful jeered the rebels at the entrance of the DISY building.
One of the rebels, Eleni Vrahimi, described the hecklers as “ruffians”
deliberately recruited to create trouble.But Anastassiades said yesterday
the party had never had ruffians in its ranks, despite what people were
trying to suggest. He said he did not mind Cassoulides running for the
party leadership.“We have a democracy; I don't think democracy ever hurt
anyone.“What hurts is the disregard of democracy, the disregard of the
majority, the lack of respect for the decisions of the party.”
Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003
Thursday, February 20, 2003
[02] New president in all-day meeting with De SotoBy Jean ChristouPRESIDENT
elect Tassos Papadopoulos and his new negotiating team yesterday met UN
envoy Alvaro de Soto to decide the next move in the Cyprus talks, nine days
before the deadline to reach an agreement.Attorney-general Alecos Markides,
who was the senior negotiator for outgoing president Glafcos Clerides,
accompanied Papadopoulos and his new team, Kypros Chyrsostomides and
Tomazos Tselepis. The president elect also met Clerides early in the
morning.Tselepis is a member of the central committee of the communist
party, AKEL, and Chrysostomides is a lawyer and former member of
Papadopoulos' party DIKO, as well as the tripartite alliance's losing
candidate for Nicosia mayor in the last municipal elections. Both men are
constitutional experts.The meeting between De Soto and the new team lasted
two hours yesterday morning and resumed in the afternoon. No statements
were made after the morning meeting, but De Soto told reporters following a
meeting with Clerides that Papadopoulos had expressed his desire to start
the negotiations as soon as possible.Both yesterday's and Monday's regular
talks between Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash were
cancelled in view of the outcome of Sunday's elections.This leaves only
tomorrow and Monday for any face-to-face talks between the two leaders
before the arrival on the island of UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan next
Wednesday, and another two days before the UN deadline for an agreement
expires on February 28, the day Papadopoulos will be officially sworn in as
President.De Soto said his understanding was that Papadopoulos wanted to
get into the negotiations as quickly as possible. “I welcome it,” he
said.He added that Clerides would be “going over” the UN plan with
Papadopoulos and was ready to answer any questions.“I hope that this will
contribute to making progress in the coming days,” De Soto said, but he
could not say when the direct talks would resume.Asked to comment on
statements by Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul that Annan had prepared a
third version of the plan, De Soto said he was not sure what Gul meant. He
said Gul had met Annan in Brussels but that he didn't know what was
discussed.“Everybody seems to be talking about the SG's new plan. We shall
have to see”, he said.Reports from Turkey yesterday said Ankara had warned
De Soto during his contacts there on Monday about the “bad past” of
Papadopoulos, who is widely seen as a hardliner on the Cyprus
issue.“Papadopoulos is not a leader whose identity and political views are
unknown. On the contrary, he carries with him heavy political baggage,
including an EOKA identity,” Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Yusuf Buluc
told a news conference yesterday. Playing on this, Denktash has become even
more opposed to the UN plan in recent days. In published interviews
yesterday, he honed in on Papadopoulos' reference to all refugees returning
to their homes during his victory speech on Sunday night, when the UN plan
does not provide for this. Denktash said he believed the plan had been
drawn up with the co-operation of the Greek Cypriot side.Commenting on the
February 28 deadline, Denktash said such timeframes were merely designed to
exert pressure on the Turkish Cypriots. “Should these artificial dates
affect us and should we create an atmosphere whereby we say that something
will happen to us if we fail to reach an agreement on that date, then our
bargaining power will diminish or fade completely,” he said.“These dates
should not affect us. We should continue defending the things that we
believe are right, for what shall we do if we fail to defend the things we
believe are right? Well, we would then sign every document that is put
before us in one way or the other.”
Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003
Thursday, February 20, 2003
[03] AKEL denies rifts over ministriesBy George PsyllidesAKEL yesterday
rejected reports of internal disagreements over the list of names the party
had to propose to take over at least four ministries, in accordance with a
pre-election agreement between opposition parties supporting president
elect Tassos Papadopoulos.Consultations around the formation of the new
cabinet continued yesterday with a meeting between opposition parties in
the morning.The opposition parties are busy drafting their proposals, but
according to reports some disagreement has emerged in AKEL over who should
be on the list.“What is leaked to the media is unacceptable and outside any
journalistic moral and ethos,” AKEL leader Demetris Christofias said
yesterday.He added: “There is no problem in AKEL; first we discuss the
developments in the Cyprus problem and then the participation in the new
government, not in the sense of who would be in the administration but the
role we could play in implementing a people-friendly programme like that of
Mr Papadopoulos.”He said discussions inside the party were conducted in a
spirit of comradeship without any fights.Christofias said the party had not
decided yet whether to propose high-ranking members for ministers, adding
he was expressing a personal view when he said that members of the
secretariat should not be proposed.AKEL spokesman Nicos Katsourides
seconded Christofias in declaring that the party was in “full unity and
harmony” and would handle all the issues in the same spirit it has done so
successfully for the past 15 years.“There is no conflict, no disagreement
and no friction,” Katsourides said.AKEL is expected to finalise its
proposals in the next few days when the party's central committee approves
the names.In DIKO, procedures appeared to be faster, with deputy Nicos
Pittokopitis saying yesterday that the list of names for the party's share
of three ministries should be ready by today.Pittokopitis said Papadopoulos
would make the ultimate decision on who would be included in his cabinet
after he had assessed the parties' proposals.“The president will assess and
decide; he has the exclusive authority and constitutional right and
responsibility,” Pittokopitis said.He suggested that there could be six
candidates for the three ministries.Meanwhile the KISOS political bureau
met yesterday afternoon to discuss the party's proposals for the two
ministries allocated to them.Vice chairman Sophocles Sophocleous said the
party would discuss its participation in the new administration and the
names, which would be submitted to the president elect.
Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003
Thursday, February 20, 2003
[04] Police step up searches for missing brothersBy Alexia SaoulliAUTHORITIES
yesterday continued their search into the disappearance of two brothers
from Kofinou village in Larnaca.Nicholas Sinesi Kannas, 31, and his 27-year-
old brother Kyriacos have been missing since Saturday. So far no traces of
the brothers have been found.Yesterday, the special rescue unit, EMAK, used
specialised tracing equipment to comb through a total of 16 wells along the
district's farming area. Nothing turned up. EMAK commander Marcos Trangolas
said the equipment had been used in past investigations and was aimed at
locating anything suspicious in the wells' water. In this particular case,
the water levels were such that authorities did not suspect anything out of
the ordinary, he said.Larnaca's Criminal Investigation Division also
searched the Kivisiliou district, which is covered in reeds, ditches and
weeds. Rural officer Theodoros Sergiou stressed police were determined in
their co-ordinated efforts to find the two missing brothers and that they
would continue to be so. But, he added, so far no reason had been found as
to why they had disappeared, nor had ballistics specialists uncovered any
evidence at their farm in Panayia ton Ampelion, outside Kofinou, where they
were last reported seen on Saturday at 1.30pm by a local herder. In Kofinou,
police extended their search to uninhabited Turkish Cypriot houses, and
game service officials focused their search on a vast area surrounding
Stavrovouni Monastery. Nothing suspicious turned up, police said.
Investigators also questioned a number of people who had business dealings
with Nicholas and Kyriacos, in the hope that it would help uncover why they
had disappeared. Meanwhile the brothers' family continued to keep a
watchful eye on the investigations, but avoided making any further comments
as to why the two were missing. Initially, family members had said the men
had been kidnapped and on Tuesday they formed a human chain on the Larnaca-
Limassol and Nicosia-Limassol highway, holding up traffic for 30 minutes in
protest at what they said were inadequate police efforts to locate the
men.“This is a very serious case and we are investigating all possibilities,
” police said.
Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003
Thursday, February 20, 2003
[05] Central Bank warns of patched up notesBy Stefanos EvripidouPATCHED up
bank notes are circulating on the market duping everyone but the processing
machine at the Central Bank of Cyprus.Pranksters have come up with a time-
consuming but resourceful method to make an extra buck out of every 10.
Bank notes of varying values, sliced up and stuck together, have found
their way to the sorting machines of the Central Bank. The defaced notes
are singled out by the machines for carrying opposing serial numbers while
being a few millimetres short of a full-sized bank note. According to
Central Bank officer, Kyriacos Zingas, about 1.5cm of a bank note is sliced
and removed. The one half of the note is then taped to another half of a
different note but of equal value. The Central Bank has been receiving up
to three defaced notes a day in the last week.“It's a kind of game, but
we're not quite certain what it actually is,” said Zingas. “We want to warn
people to be careful when accepting notes so they don't lose money. The
Central Bank does not have to exchange a defaced bank note which has been
intentionally mutilated,” he added.“On some notes, up to three different
pieces have been stuck together to make a new note. But we don't know what
happened to the missing bits and why they do it,” said Zingas. He said it
was not uncommon for fraudsters to take slices out of different notes and
put them together to make a new one but added that no notes with more than
three different pieces have been found yet. “What's even odder is that they
take a strip out of a note and then stick two or three different notes back
together. We can't see a reason for it other than that someone out there
has a destructive personality.”None of the serial numbers on the mutilated
pieces match each other so far. Zingas highlighted that defaced notes can
only be exchanged if the owner fills in a form giving their details and
reasonable reasons for the mutilation. Half notes can be exchanged using a
similar procedure but only if the other half does not exist.Deliberate
mutilation of bank notes is a criminal offence carrying a sentence of up to
15 years' imprisonment.
Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003
Thursday, February 20, 2003
[06] One woman standing up to Nicos AnastassiadesBy Sofia KannasDISY member
and barrister Eleni Vrahimi has become the grande dame of Cyprus politics,
standing up to her predominantly male counterparts, and more especially to
DISY boss Nicos Anastassiades after he threatened five party members with
expulsion in the wake of DISY's electoral defeat on Sunday.Vrahimi has felt
for several years that the party leader's behaviour in recent times has
been less than exemplary.“I had the opportunity to work with Mr
Anastassiades since 1997 when he became President of the Party and I was
elected General Secretary.“I didn't know him that well beforehand so I was
not quite aware of his behaviour. I knew he was a good lawyer and a clever
individual so I hoped he would be a successful party leader.“But I noticed
early on that as a party and as members of the political bureau, we were
not working as a group. We could not express out views freely.“He doesn't
let us speak… most of the time we are not permitted to express any view
without being attacked. Because of this I am forced, while being in the
political bureau, to withdraw spiritually.“The difficulties we had with Mr
Anastassiades began before I wrote a letter to him in 1999, in which I made
observations about his behaviour. This behaviour continues today. And it
was not only me who complained about his behaviour, but many others. There
were eight of us at the beginning that he wanted to throw out of the
party.“His behaviour was not proper. We all wanted to express our opinion
without his shouting and his interruptions but he wanted to do what he
wanted to do. He was never a good listener -- he took the decisions, he
spoke to the media and never discussed the issues with us in the political
bureau.”However, Anastassiades' announcement on air last Sunday that five
senior party members -- including Vrahimi herself -- should be expelled for
supporting Glafcos Clerides' election rival Alecos Markides, has provided
his critics with the excuse to fire back.“Now we can speak about these
things because he gave us the opportunity on the night of the
elections.“Instead of being sorry about what happened and perhaps admitting
his own responsibility, and resigning as happens in European countries, he
decided to declare our death… certainly he is doing this to preserve his
own power.“We were the people with a voice in the DISY political bureau --
if he shouted we shouted back. And he didn't like this.Vrahimi dismissed
Anastassiades' threats of expulsion.“He doesn't have the authority to expel
us -- only the Political bureau can do this. And of course he noticed that
he didn't have a majority in the bureau so he decided to go to another body
(the Party's supreme council), which also has no authority to expel us. But
he will give them this authority on Saturday so he will be able to do what
he wants. And this is the reason we will not appear on Saturday.“But if he
takes any decision regarding our expulsion, then this is illegal. I will
remain in the political bureau and in the party and I will not leave when
Mr Anastassiades wants. If I want to leave I will chose the time: it's up
to me it's not up to him.Vrahimi also expressed her concern for the party's
future.“I hope the party will not split but if he carries on in this way it
will happen- (it's future) is not up to us, it's up to him.Vrahimi was also
the only party member to stand against Anastassiades' initial decision
(which was later withdrawn) to support KISOS presidential candidate
Yiannakis Omirou.“I objected because I was confident in what I was saying --
we had no chance of wining the elections with Omirou. Even his own party
split into three when the decision was made to support him. Yet Mr
Anastassiades committed himself to this.“I don't know what he told others
behind closed doors. Personally I refused to speak to him in private
because I had very strong views about Omirou and the elections and I wasn't
going to keep these to myself.“Perhaps he was threatening them (other DISY
members), I don't know. But he couldn't threaten me.”She added that Tassos
Papadopoulos' electoral victory had not come as a surprise.“I knew what the
result of the elections would be -- I had given my opinion in writing even
at the last moment. It was not possible for Mr Clerides to win the
elections when he said he was only going to act only for the solution of
the Cyprus problem and EU accession. People in this country have too many
problems and they wanted to hear what the new president would do to solve
these problems. The people of this country need a president for five years…
not a president for a limited period.”
Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003
Thursday, February 20, 2003
[07] Cypriot clone doctor: Dolly's death had nothing to do with fact she
was a cloneBy Sofia KannasPANAYIOTIS Zavos, the controversial Cypriot-
American fertility expert involved in the race to produce human clones, has
lashed out at critics who claim Dolly the cloned sheep died prematurely
because she was a clone.His comments came after six-year-old Dolly, the
worlds' first mammal cloned from an adult cell, was put down last week
having been diagnosed with a progressive lung disease.In a statement e-
mailed to the Cyprus Mail, Dr Zavos said Dolly would be sorely missed:
“We are saddened that Dolly, the first cloned mammal, is dead.“Dolly will
always be remembered for what she represented… a cloned animal that was
born healthy,” but also an animal used and abused by the “vicious debate
about cloning.”Zavos was anxious to emphasise his belief that Dolly's death
had nothing to do with the fact she was a clone.He dismissed claims by MIT
Professor of Biology Rudolf Jaenisch that Dolly had an “IQ problem”.According
to Zavos, Jaenisch testified under oath before the US Congress that Dolly's
IQ problem was due to the wrongful effects of cloning.“I cannot forget the
statement by Jaenisch… it is a typical argument made by a reputable
scientist under oath…before a powerful decision-making body. It was quite
ironic and hypocritical, when one knows quite well that Dolly never took
such an IQ test, because such a test doesn't exist.”Zavos said that the
world should learn from Dolly's life:“She had a good life and taught us all
a very powerful lesson that… whether you are brought into this world via
sexual reproductive means or via cloning, you can still enjoy a very good
quality of life on this earth.”Born in 1996, at the Roslin Institute, Dolly
was cloned from the breast cell of a six-year-old adult ewe.Zavos, who
visited Cyprus in March 2001, runs a fertility clinic in Kentucky in the US
and was hoping to deliver a cloned baby at the end of 2002.
Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003
Thursday, February 20, 2003
[08] EU looking in recruitment drive in acceding countriesBy a Staff
ReporterSofia KannasTHE EUROPEAN Commission yesterday outlined its target
for recruitment of officials from its new member states, meaning over 100
jobs for Cypriot EU officials.The total staff for Cyprus is estimated at
110, including one Director and six middle managers.The announcement comes
as the Commission makes final preparations for enlargement.Commenting
yesterday, Commission President Romano Prodi said:“The forthcoming
enlargement of the EU is the single most important priority of this
Commission. The recruitment of EU officials from incoming Member States
will be a potent symbol of the new face of Europe, and the Commission is
looking forward to their arrival.The addition of the 10 new member states
will enlarge the EU population by 20 per cent, the number of Member States
by 66 per cent and the number of working languages by 82 per cent. The
total number of staff to be recruited from the 10 acceding countries is 3,
341, of which 41 are directors and 189 are middle managers.
Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003
Thursday, February 20, 2003
[09] Man dies after fallBy a Staff ReporterA 70-YEAR-OLD man from the
Nicosia district yesterday slipped and fell to his death from a forklift
while trying to fix an advertising billboard on the Paphos-Limassol highway,
said police.Spyros Groutas from Dhali village was working on the billboard
sign in the Anaritas district, when, under circumstances that are being
investigated, he fell four metres to the ground. Police said he was rushed
to Paphos general hospital where the duty doctor pronounced him dead.The
exact cause of death will be determined during an autopsy today, police
added.
Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003
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