Cyprus Mail: Press Review in English, 99-04-02

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

Friday, April 02, 1999

Balkan crisis becoming more complex

ALL THE newspapers again led with reports about the worsening situation in Yugoslavia.

Alithia said that the "crisis became more complex" as none of the sides were prepared to take a step backwards. On the one hand, Nato had decided to step up its air attacks of Yugoslavia, trying to hit targets in the centre of Belgrade. On the other hand, the position of President Milosevic in Yugoslavia was being strengthened thanks to the Nato attacks.

Simerini, quoting the Washington Post, said that the third phase of the Nato offensive would get under way with attacks on ministry buildings in the heart of Belgrade. Meanwhile, Russian ambassador to Nicosia Georgi Muratov announced that his country would lift the embargo on the supply of weapons to Yugoslavia. Already, seven Russian warships were sailing to the Adriatic Sea, a move described by the US State Department as "not a nice gesture".

Phileleftheros said the objective of the third phase of the Nato offensive was to weaken Yugoslav resistance so as to facilitate the invasion of land forces into Kosovo. The situation was very dangerous, especially after Russia's decision to send its navy to the area. Russian generals, meanwhile had been calling for an involvement of their troops in the war.

Machi claimed that Turkish soldiers would make up the majority of the 200, 000 Nato troops that were expected to invade Yugoslavia. Meanwhile Nato soldiers had penetrated into Kosovo, sending back information about Yugoslav positions in the province, the paper said.

Politis' correspondent in Belgrade said that sirens started to be heard in the city immediately after the collapse of the Russian mediation effort and that panic-stricken residents headed for their bomb shelters awaiting the third phase of the Nato attack.

Haravghi gave prominence to an advertisement about the anti-Nato rally to be held at Nicosia's Eleftheria Square on Saturday morning. The rally, which will be addressed by Spyros Kyprianou is titled "No to Nato's barbarism".

In another front-page story, the paper criticised the government for forcing policemen to honour the leader of the Eoka struggle General Grivas, whom the paper described as "the biggest traitor of recent Cypriot history". A circular from the Ministry of Justice obliged all senior police officers to attend events honouring the memory of Grivas, it said.

Phileleftheros reported that the government had decided not to buy the Italian-made Aspide missile system because it had become fed up of waiting for Italy's government to approve the deal. Italy had originally vetoed the deal, changing its position only after the S-300 deal had been cancelled.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1999

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