Cyprus Mail: Press Review in English, 99-04-01

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

Thursday, April 01, 1999

'Hardened Serbs on trial again'

THE BOMBING of Yugoslavia by Nato forces was still the main story yesterday, with most papers reporting the failure of Russian Prime Minister Yevgeni Primakov to broker a ceasefire and predicting a new bout of air attacks.

Politis carried a story from its own reporter, who was in Belgrade and spent time with civilians in the bomb shelters. He said that the 2.5 million residents of Belgrade had adapted quickly to the war that was forcing them to spend long hours in neighbourhood bomb shelters which take up to 200 people. Life in the shelters was "not the most pleasant thing that could happen to a family", he reported.

In one side of the shelter were the families with children, who were allowed one toy each; their parents were allowed a book each. Men sat listening to the latest news on the radio while the young played cards. Morale remained high with the "hardened Serbs on trial" again. But, "day by day, normality seems to be returning to their life."

Haravghi led with a report about the "Pancyprian condemnation of Nato's barbarism". It said that hundreds of Nicosia gymnasium students gave "lessons in defiant behaviour and internationalist solidarity as they demonstrated outside the US embassy."

It also said that the political parties had organised a mass rally in Eleftheria Square on Saturday morning to condemn the bombing of Yugoslavia. The paper said the only way the Nato war-mongers would be reined in would be if they felt the "determination of the people to stand in the way of the blood-stained world order that the American imperialists were trying to impose".

Machi rued the lost opportunity for peace. It reported that Russian premier Primakov's "superhuman" mediation efforts failed because President Milosevic's proposals had been rejected by Nato. Milosevic had agreed to start negotiations on condition that the Nato bombing stopped. German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said this was not enough and Primakov may as well give up.

Alithia reported that some 100 Greek Cypriots had already responded to the invitation of Anorthosis Football Club for the creation of a company of volunteers to fight in Yugoslavia on the side of the Serbs. Meanwhile the errand organised by the club the was also attracting help from many Cypriots.

The paper also reported that the flow of water to reservoirs was continuing although quantities were smaller. Despite the low March rainfall - 54 per cent of the normal for the month - 6.6 million cubic metres of water flowed into the reservoirs which were now 23 per cent full.

Phileleftheros reported that the government had decided not to buy the Italian-made Aspide missiles, after the Italian government had finally agreed to sell these to Cyprus. Italy had initially refused to sell the missiles to Cyprus, changing its position only after the S-300 deployment had been abandoned, and it was now offering the missiles at a reduced price.

The Cyprus government has snubbed the Italian offer because it felt that its defensive needs would better be covered by the Russian TOR-M1 missiles. Defence experts believe the government is making a military and political mistake, because they are relying too heavily on Russia for its defence equipment refusing to buy missiles from an EU country.

Simerini reported how a man had smashed up the car of a licensed pawnbroker after a disagreement over his loan repayments. The man had claimed that he had made repayments to the pawnbroker worth £780 pounds for a loan of £130.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1999

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