Cyprus Mail: Press Review in English, 98-10-01

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From: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cynews.com/>

Thursday, October 01, 1998

Corruption crisis hogs the headlines

ALL THE papers continue to focus on House Watchdog Committee chairman Christos Pourgourides' corruption allegations against Interior Minister Dinos Michaelides. Attention is also given to President Glafcos Clerides comments on his return from New York and the UN General Assembly. Only two of the papers headline other issues.

Machi again claims there are doubts over Pourgourides' claims, and says that his allegations are crumbling "like paper towers". Letters sent to Clerides from several companies, are said by Machi to prove that Michaelides' purchase of several apartments at sub-market prices was perfectly legitimate.

Clerides' comment on the way the Pourgourides allegations have been handled by the press and general public is also highlighted by the paper with his quote that "we seem like a banana republic". He added that he puts blame mainly on the Mass Media as well as political figures.

Simerini leads with the Auditor-general's staff's search of Michaelides' home on Tuesday, calling it, "the most dramatic development so far". The search had been due to start at 9am, but the number of journalists at the gate delayed the search for 4 hours. Michaelides claimed his home cost just £250,000 while Pourgourides says it is worth at least £600,000.

Alithia focuses on Clerides' 'banana' comments with the headline "Clerides: We have lost our seriousness".

In a separate cover story, the paper also notes that the whereabouts of Nina Petrou, the alleged business associate of the embattled Bishop of Limassol have not yet been determined by Interpol. Petrou is wanted in connection to fraud allegations brought against Chrysanthos. Cyprus police have so far been unable to locate her.

Haravghi chooses to lead on a completely different theme, reporting under the headline "Bankruptcies - Injury to tourism", on the bankruptcy of tour company Dayrise Holidays, which the paper says has affected 25 hotels in Cyprus, costing the industry more than half a million pounds. The paper goes on to state that the bankruptcy of another company, Austrian Hansenmann Touristik, will affect about 20 hotels and holiday apartment blocks.

Haravghi also joins the other papers in giving front page attention to the decision on allegations against the head of the Water Board, Christodoulos Christodoulou. Christodoulou was accused of using public staff and materials for his own use.

Phileleftheros sticks to its favourite Cyprus problem theme, leading with a story headlined "Moscow: Proposal for a military deal with Cyprus". The lead article gives details on the reported proposal, including the creation of a training centre. The paper says that Russian Foreign Minister Ivan Sergeiev only made the proposal to Cyprus Defence Minister Yiannakis Omirou recently, so no other politicians were aware of the development till Tuesday. When the paper questioned Omirou, he did not deny the existence of the proposal, but refused to comment on it.

Phileleftheros was alone in reporting on the economic problems faced by 200 students at the Cyprus University. It reported that 40 of them were living below the poverty line.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1998

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