Cyprus Mail: Press Review in English, 98-12-19

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

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

Saturday, December 19, 1998

Bent cops vie with Church sex

THE ARREST of two policemen as suspects in the murder of Hambis Aeroporos vied for front page space with the continuing Church "sex scandal" saga and the US bombing of Iraq yesterday.

Apogevmatini reported that one of the policemen being held had been linked to gangland killings in the past.

Christos Symianos had been taped by the former Limassol police chief, Andreas Stephanou, admitting he and colleagues of his had taken part in the October 1995 killing of Onisiforos Onisiforou, aka Foris, and the 1995 attempt on the life of Hambis Aeroporos, the paper said.

President Clerides later said he had Stephanou's tape recording and an investigation had been launched but did not lead to any convictions, Apogevmatini stated.

Simerini reported that Hambis Aeroporos had been wearing a bullet-proof vest at the time of the attack, but had not been saved by it.

Philelephtheros stated finger-prints had been found on one of the weapons recovered close to the murder scene. The paper also quoted Justice Minister Nicos Koshis vowing to wipe out the "bad apples" in the police force.

Alithia gave more space to the Church saga, reporting that Archbishop Chrysostomos had left his namesake the Bishop of Paphos "exposed" by releasing a statement describing as lies the Bishop's claims that a Mount Athos monk had molested Paphos nuns.

The Archbishop stated the Bishop had been misled by a disgraced former nun, the paper noted. The Bishop's response, according to Alithia, was brief and to the point: "Do I look naive?"

Haravghi interpreted the Archbishop's statement as a show of support for father Athanasios, the candidate for the upcoming Limassol Bishop elections favoured by Mount Athos.

The left-wing paper also attacked the US and Britain for their missile attack on Iraq's suspected chemical and biological weapons' facilities, stating there had been an "international outcry" against the bombings.

Simerini said the bombing attacks had not saved US President Bill Clinton from impeachment proceedings at the US congress. The paper interpreted the timing of the attack on Iraq as an effort by Clinton to stall the impeachment proceedings. Simerini noted that congress had not been deterred by the offensive on Iraq.

Apogevmatini slammed the government for failing to condemn the attack on Iraq, saying Nicosia had welcomed the slaughter of innocents in Iraq.

Most of the papers also reported on hunters complaining that game birds released for them to shoot were so "stupid" that they fell easy prey to guns and provided no sport at all. The captive bred birds were too tame and had no survival savvy, making a mockery of shoots, the papers said.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1998

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