Cyprus News Agency: News in English (PM), 99-08-19

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

CONTENTS

[01] Christofias - Discharged from hospital

[02] Commerce Ministry - Halloumi

[03] Cyprus Stock Exchange

[04] Cyprus - Convention - Protection of Cultural Heritage

1520:CYPPRESS:01

[01] Christofias - Discharged from hospital

If all goes well Christofias will return to Cyprus around September 9th.

The leader of Cyprus' largest opposition party said he is feeling very well and thanked his sister Despina, who offered him her kidney, his wife Elsi, Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides and everybody else who stood by his side during his ordeal.

Both the British doctors who had operated on Christofias and the two Cypriot doctors who had accompanied him to London expressed their satisfaction with the results of the operation.

They said he is recuperating well.

CNA KT/MA/MM/1999

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1635:CYPPRESS:02

[02] Commerce Ministry - Halloumi

In a statement issued today the ministry says that a similar decision was taken by a court in Greece, enabling halloumi cheese to be sold in European Union countries under this name.

"These two court decisions are very important for our exports and the trading of halloumi in the international market and make it more difficult for this traditional product of Cyprus to be copied illegally," the ministry says.

The halloumi certification mark has also been accepted in Canada, while procedures are underway for Cyprus to have the exclusive right to use it in Great Britain and South America.

Earlier this week and after an eight-year battle the US Trademark Trial and Appeal court gave Cyprus the right to the halloumi cheese certification.

The Danish Dairy Board had challenged Cyprus' right to use the name halloumi cheese and argued that it can be used by any country.

Retail sales of halloumi cheese in the US now exceed five million dollars annually, with the cheese increasingly available in many US supermarkets.

Halloumi is a hard white and salty cheese produced in Cyprus throughout the centuries and is a big part of the local diet. It can be eaten grilled or fried and is often grated or used to make pies.

CNA MA/MM/1999

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1800:CYPPRESS:03

[03] Cyprus Stock Exchange

      CSE General Index                         332.14 ( 1.59)

      Traded Value            CYP 24,475,564

      Sectural Indices

      Banks                   CYP 5,644,643     448.98  ( 0.04)
      Approved Investment
      Companies               CYP 2,597,506     202.55  (11.10)
      Insurance Companies     CYP 1,269,736     166.30  ( 9.18)
      Manufacturing Companies CYP 1,593,481     130.21  ( 2.92)
      Tourism Companies       CYP 3.610,173     248.76  ( 8.64)
      Trading Companies       CYP 1.708,395     137.32  ( 0.47)
      Other Companies         CYP 4,458,742     278.56  ( 2.42)

CNA MM/1999

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1810:CYPPRESS:04

[04] Cyprus - Convention - Protection of Cultural Heritage

The Republic's Ambassador to Holland Alexandros Zenon signed the Protocol, which is of particular importance to Cyprus as its cultural heritage in the areas occupied by Turkey since 1974 is being systematically destroyed and looted.

According to an official announcement, after efforts by the Cyprus delegation an article on the protection of cultural heritage in occupied areas was included in the Protocol.

Article 9 of the Protocol stipulates that a country which occupies part of or the whole of another country is obliged to prohibit or prevent every illegal export or transfer of cultural heritage.

It should also prohibit and prevent archaeological excavations unless they are necessary to protect the cultural heritage and must avert any change in the use of the cultural heritage, which aims at the destruction of cultural heritage.

The new Protocol, adopted in the Hague on March 26th this year, also includes articles that attribute legal obligations in cases where the Convention is violated.

It is estimated that more than 500 churches in the Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus, some of them hundreds of years old, have been destroyed, desecrated or turned into ware-houses, coffee-shops or even stables.

Deep concern has also been expressed by the Cypriot authorities over the fate of archaeological sites in the occupied areas which are not being looked after or are left unprotected.

At the same time priceless ecclesiastical and other ancient artefacts are often sold in the international black market, forcing the Cyprus Orthodox Church, the government and private institutions to be on a permanent lookout to trace and return stolen items.

CNA MA/MM/1999

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

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