Cyprus News Agency: News in English (AM), 97-10-09

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From: The Cyprus News Agency at <http://www.cyna.org.cy>

CONTENTS

[01] Cyprus President in Council of Europe summit

[02] Seminar on international trade law

[03] European Court rules on Cyprus case

[04] Cyprus Stock Exchange

1140:CYPPRESS:01

[01] Cyprus President in Council of Europe summit

Strasbourg, Oct 9 (CNA) -- Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides arrives here later today to attend the two-day Council of Europe Summit and have a series of meetings.

On Thursday afternoon, he will see Leni Fischer, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council and the President of the Alscace - Cyprus Friendship Group.

On Friday morning, he will attend the opening of the Summit, and later the same day he will have talks with European Commission President Jacques Santer.

He will also meet Daniel Tarschys, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

Discussions during these meetings are expected to centre on developments in Cyprus and efforts to find a solution to the protracted Cyprus question.

On Saturday, President Clerides will chair a session of the proceedings and address the meeting.

He leaves Strasbourg on Saturday lunchtime.

Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides, who will also be in Strasbourg for the Summit, is scheduled to hold talks with his counterparts from Denmark Niels Helveg Petersen, the Netherlands Hans van Mierlo, Moldova Nicolae Tabacaru, Hungary Lazlo Kovacs and Armenia Alexandre Arzoumanian.

The Cypriot President will attend a reception hosted by Greece's Permanent Representative to the Council, Demetris Konsta, in honour of Greek President Constantinos Stephanopoulos, who will attend the summit.

All heads of the 40 member-states of the Council will gather in Strasbourg for the summit, accompanied by their Foreign Ministers.

Representatives from Japan, Canada, the US and the European Union will also follow the proceedings of the summit, expected to draft a plan of action to take the Council into the next century.

The summit declaration and the plan of action are expected to focus on human rights, social cohesion and human dignity, the safety of the citizen, training for democracy and cultural differences.

CNA MA/MM/GP/1997

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1310:CYPPRESS:02

[02] Seminar on international trade law

The seminar is organised by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Republic of Cyprus and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).

Opening the seminar, Attorney-General, Alecos Markides, said "the aim of this important seminar is twofold: first to familiarise interested bodies and persons with the work of UNCITRAL and second to examine and discuss ways of promoting such work in Cyprus".

Markides said "international trade and peace are closely related" and that "an international legal regime that facilitates and promotes international trade by reducing existing legal obstacles to the expansion of economic activities enhances at the same time the goal of world peace".

Senior Legal Officer of the International Trade Law Branch, Office of Legal Affairs, of UNCITRAL, Jernej Sekotec, referred to the history and the activities of the Commission.

Sekotec said UNCITRAL, since its establishment by the General Assembly in 1966, has come to be the core legal body of the United Nations system in the field of international trade law.

The Commission is composed of thirty-six member states, elected by the General Assembly.

The seminar will focus on the international sale of goods, banking and payments, insolvency and settlement of commercial disputes, electronic commerce and current UNCITRAL projects.

CNA RG/GP/1997

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1400:CYPPRESS:03

[03] European Court rules on Cyprus case

The judgement, issued in Strasbourg today, concluded that "the respondent state could not be adjudged to be in breach of its obligations under Article 2 of the Convention."

Article 2 stipulates "no one shall be deprived of his life intentionally" and "deprivation of life shall not be regarded as inflicted in contravention of this Article when it results from the use of force which is no more than absolutely necessary in defence of any person from unlawful violence."

The Court dismissed the government's preliminary objections concerning exhaustion of domestic remedies by seven votes to two and abuse of process by a unanimous vote.

The ruling comes to corroborate the conclusions of a commission of inquiry into the killing of Lefteris Andronikou and his girl-friend Elsie Constantinou in December 1993 at Chloraka village, near the western town of Paphos.

Both were killed in an exchange of fire when special police forces stormed the flat in which Lefteris held Elsie hostage, threatening to kill her.

"In the circumstance the use of lethal force could not be said to have exceeded what was absolutely necessary for the purpose of defending the lives of Elsie Constantinou and of the officers," the judgement said.

Regretting that "so much fire power had been used by the officers," the Court considered that "it could not substitute its own assessment of the situation for that of the officers required to react in the heat of the moment in what was for them a unique and unprecedented operation to save life."

The Court also accepted that the two officers involved in the raid "honestly believed in the circumstances that it was necessary to kill Lefteris in order to save the life of Elsie Constantinou and their own lives and to fire at him repeatedly to remove any risk that he might reach for a weapon."

Furthermore the Court took the view that the applicants could not maintain that they did not have access to a Court for a determination of their civil claim.

CNA MM/GP/1997

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1545 CYPPRESS:04

[04] Cyprus Stock Exchange

CSE All Share Index                    76.17 (0.00)

Highest: 82.46 (2/1/97)
Lowest : 73.90 (30/1/97)

Sectural Indices

Banks                                  86.97 (-0.10)
Approved Investment Companies          62.86 (-0.16)
Insurance Companies                    56.34 (+0.75)
Industrial Companies                   73.42 (-0.35)
Tourist Industries                     64.85 (+0.53)
Commercial Companies                   44.77 (+0.90)
Other Companies                        58.68 (-0.10)

Trading Volume                         CYP 383676.968

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

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