Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 03-03-09

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

Sunday, March 9, 2003

CONTENTS

[01] Yes or no? The decision will be taken tomorrow

[02] UK prepares war risks cover for airlines

[03] Wanted man found hanged

[04] Cyprus tops for female students

[05] New government pledges to promote equality

[06] Spate of thefts reported

[01] Yes or no? The decision will be taken tomorrow

THE NATIONAL Council had still not decided yesterday whether the Greek Cypriot side would give a 'yes' or 'no' reply in The Hague tomorrow to holding a referendum on the UN solution plan on March 30.

President Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash meet UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan in The Hague tomorrow to say whether they are willing to sign a two-page document committing the third version of his plan to separate referendums.

Signatures are also required in The Hague from Greece, Turkey and Britain, the island's guarantor powers.

However news agency reports out of Athens yesterday said that Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou will not attend tomorrow's meeting. Papandreou had announced on Friday that he would be there, but a Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman said yesterday that Papandreou would not now attend tomorrow's gathering as the two other guarantor powers are not sending similar representation.

Papandreou will, however, travel to The Hague for a meeting today with Papadopoulos ahead of tomorrow's deadline.

So far neither side in Cyprus appears willing to commit, because signing a document agreeing to a referendum might indicate acceptance or endorsement of the actual plan, even though they are nowhere near agreeing on a deal on a comprehensive settlement.

Observers say the only way out, other than signing, is the already talked about possibility that they might reach a verbal agreement to hold the referendums, which would take the pressure off endorsing a plan that neither side seems to want.

Annan has warned that if either side says 'no' tomorrow, it would be the end of the road for the Cyprus problem for a very long time, if not for ever.

After yesterday's National Council session government spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides said the meeting had not aimed at taking a decision.“The decision will be taken in The Hague at a National Council meeting before the meeting of the President of the Republic with the UN Secretary-general, ” he said. Papadopoulos and the other party leaders who make up the National Council leave for The Hague this morning.

Chrysostomides said that during the meeting yesterday Papadopoulos briefed the members of the Council on his recent talks in Athens with Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis.“In view of the forthcoming trip of the President of the Republic to the Hague, accompanied by the members of the National Council, in-depth views were exchanged and all the developments and relevant factors were evaluated,” Chrysostomides said.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Sunday, March 9, 2003

[02] UK prepares war risks cover for airlines

THE BRITISH parliament is preparing emergency legislation to keep airlines flying to the Middle East and Cyprus during an Iraq war, the Financial Times (FT) reported yesterday.

The newspaper said that an order is expected to be laid before parliament to give the government the power to protect the aviation industry against war risks if insurers withdraw cover.

“Airlines fear premiums will soar not only for flights to the Gulf but also to nearby destinations such as Cyprus. They believe insurers would withdraw cover more widely if a war in Iraq made airlines the target of terrorist reprisals,” the FT said.

Insurers cancelled cover after September 11, 2001, and the government had to step in as an underwriter to prevent aircraft being grounded. But that agreement expired at the end of October last year.

A Whitehall insider told the FT: "We are aware of the dangers, and there's a contingency plan."

Ministers are also discussing whether to help out the shipping industry, which is facing extra costs to secure ports and ships against terrorism, the paper said.

It quoted an aviation industry insider as saying: "When a war is declared, the insurers may come and say 'we're not prepared to insure you, or we will insure you at such a premium that it's unprofitable'."

The government has the power to provide airlines with insurance under the Marine and Aviation (War Risks) Act 1952. The legislation was used in 1991 to maintain scheduled flights to the Gulf. But it was only tabled in parliament when the market withdrew risk insurance.

Cyprus is already engaged in talks with Lloyds of London in an attempt to persuade the prestigious insurance company not to place the island in the danger zone if the US-led war on Iraq goes ahead.

UK-based charter firms are already cutting back on capacity to Cyprus, and a negative report by Lloyds would deal a fatal blow to scheduled air transport in and out of the island.

During the Gulf War in 1991, when Cyprus was placed firmly in the danger zone, it would have cost each aircraft an additional $80,000 in insurance costs to land at Larnaca and Paphos airports. The move effectively isolated the island for the duration of the war.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Sunday, March 9, 2003

[03] Wanted man found hanged

A YUGOSLAV man wanted for the murder 16 months ago of a 25-year-old builder from Limassol has hanged himself in Greece after being arrested for assault.

Police said 33-year-old Milorad Zanakovic was arrested in Salonica on February 28 after a 36-year-old man connection had been threatened at gunpoint and beaten up. Several hours later Zanakovic was found hanging in his cell.

When he was arrested he was going under the name Goran Topis. In his possession police found a loaded pistol, bullets, a switchblade knife and a Serbian passport belonging to someone else, with the photograph missing. The Greek authorities contacted Interpol, who discovered 'Topis' was wanted in Cyprus and Yugoslavia for a series of crimes.

Builder Nicos Panayiotou was shot dead in Limassol in November 2001, reportedly after a heated argument with Zanakovic, also known as 'Killer', in the Privé Club in Mouttayiaka.Despite a manhunt for Zanakovic he was never found, and authorities believed he had fled the island.

The two men had an argument at the bar, and then moved towards a corridor connecting the bar to the kitchen. Customers then heard a single gunshot, from what police thought to be a key ring gun, and saw Panayiotou stagger back and collapse, covered in blood. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Limassol General Hospital.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Sunday, March 9, 2003

[04] Cyprus tops for female students

CYPRUS has the highest percentage of female university students, according to the author of The Atlas Of Women.

The 100-page atlas, a colourful illustrated compilation of facts of the plight of women across the globe, was re-released yesterday to mark International Women's Day. First published a decade ago, it was conceived and compiled by Canadian feminist and geographer Joni Seager.

The general theme of the atlas is that “while women represent more than half of the world's population, they nowhere share the same rights as men”.

The charts and maps confirm that women are treated worst in countries where humanity is treated worst, and treated best in places were humanity is most respected. For instance, the atlas shows that in Thailand women need the permission of a husband or father to obtain a passport or travel abroad, whereas in Finland all government decision-making bodies must include a minimum of 40 per cent of women.

“For women, there are no developed countries. Although some places are clearly better for them to live in than others, it is not always true that the relatively rich countries of the world provide better circumstances for them as women than do poorer countries,” Seager said.

“While many countries provide formally for sexual equality in law, very few governments have legislated to protect specific job and marriage rights; and such law as exists is nullified or blunted in its effect by social and administrative practice. Nowhere do women have full equal rights with men.”

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Sunday, March 9, 2003

[05] New government pledges to promote equality

JUSTICE Minister Doros Theodorou said yesterday the new government will implement a series of measures and policies promoting equality between the sexes.

In a speech marking International Women's Day, Theodorou said the government's vision was a society “without discrimination, complete respect for human rights, and where men and women have equal rights and the same opportunities to evolve and create”.

He said the government's main objectives were to strive towards equal pay in the workplace, equal opportunities, parental leave, the protection of motherhood and the reconciliation of professional and family obligations.

Meanwhile women's organisations yesterday gathered at Eleftheria Square in Nicosia and in other city centres in peaceful protest against a war in Iraq.

The women handed out pamphlets to passers-by, expressing their opposition to any US-led attack on Iraq and calling on European Union governments and countries worldwide to give peace another chance.

They also expressed the hope that a solution to the Cyprus problem would be found - a solution that secured all residents' human rights and in the absence of settlers and occupation forces.

Women also gathered at the Ledra Palace Hotel in Nicosia's buffer zone in honour of mothers and wives of persons missing since the 1974 Turkish Invasion. Representatives of various organisations called on the government and political leadership to solve the issue of the missing.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Sunday, March 9, 2003

[06] Spate of thefts reported

THIEVES have made off with goods and cash worth more than £4,000 in the past five days, police said yesterday.

A Paphos man reported yesterday that his supermarket on Tombs of the Kings Avenue was burgled sometime between 7pm on Friday and 6.15am yesterday. Kyriakos Skarvelis told police thieves had stolen £1,000 worth of 'So Easy' mobile phone cards, £300 worth of scratch cards and £300 in cash from his shop.

Meanwhile a Russian woman living in Aglandja in Nicosia reported her Toshiba computer worth £1,320 was stolen from her flat sometime between 10.30pm on Thursday and 7am on Friday.

Also on Friday, Spyros Ioannides from Nicosia reported his apartment on Arsinoes Street had been robbed of £1,200 of jewellery between 7am and 2pm last Wednesday.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

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