Cyprus Mail: Press Review in English, 98-10-06

Cyprus Mail: Press Review in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

Tuesday, October 06, 1998

New delay in missile arrival

AFTER a brief absence, the S300 missile saga returned to the front pages yesterday, with reports that there would be a new delay in their deployment.

Alithia, quoting sources at the UN, reported that the missile arrival would be put back to the end of the year. This was necessary in view of the fact that the Special Representative of the UN, Dame Ann Hercus, would start a new round of contacts with the two sides in Cyprus, aimed at reducing tension.

The "procedure of contacts" would need many weeks and there were just 10 left till the end of the year. Hercus at the weekend let it be understood that an agreement had been reached in New York whereby no missiles would arrive during the contacts.

Phileleftheros said that despite the efforts of all interested parties to treat the missiles and the UN procedure as two separate issues, the objective was to create conditions that would allow the Cyprus government further to delay the arrival of the missiles.

The signs were not good. The contacts of President Clerides and Rauf Denktash in New York showed a great divergence of views with regard to the agenda for the new UN procedure. However, Hercus is believed to have found a different plan of action that would discuss security issues before moving on to other matters.

Haravghi claimed that Clerides was under pressure from Disy members and prominent right-wingers to remove Interior Minister, Dinos Michaelides - at the centre of corruption allegations - from his position so that the prestige of the government could be safeguarded.

According to the paper, the presidential palace, afraid of the dimensions the corruption probe had taken on, was already looking for a new minister. Meanwhile the Disy leader is reportedly, furious with the man who made the corruption allegations, Christos Pourgourides, but is afraid to take a public stand because he will be seeking reelection next year.

Simerini alleged that second-hand car importers were involved in a scam with customs officials. The paper reported that one importer had paid much lower duty on the cars than the going rate. An investigation is looking into the possibility that customs officials had been bribed by the importer.

To Tharros reported that Turkish-made ceramics and bathroom equipment were being imported into Cyprus. The issue arose when someone found that contractors had used Turkish-made ceramics in his house which was under construction.

Meanwhile, the supplier of the ceramics said he would investigate the matter.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1998

Cyprus Mail: Press Review in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article