Cyprus News Agency: News in English, 04-12-27

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

CONTENTS

[01] Government to bring home Cypriots from SE Asia

[02] Weather forecast for Cyprus

[03] Weather and Temperatures for Cyprus

[04] Cyprus Stock Exchange

[05] Cyprus Government sees no change in Russian position on Cyprus

[06] Cyprus President sends condolences to quake stricken countries

[07] Cyprus House President sends condolences to quake stricken countries

[01] Government to bring home Cypriots from SE Asia

1030:CYPPRESS:01

Government to bring home Cypriots from SE Asia

Nicosia, Dec 27 (CNA) -- The Cyprus government were trying to spot and tranfer back home a total of 146 Cypriots who were holidaying in countries in South East Asia hit by one of the most powerful earthquakes in history, devastating coastal areas of Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia and tourist isles in Thailand, killing thousands people.

Cyprus Foreign Ministry Permanent Secretary Sotos Zackheos told CNA that most Cypriots were at the tourist resorts of Thailand, Phuket and Koh Samui.

Zackheos said the Ministry's mission was to take back all Cypriots with an Olympic Airways aircraft sent by the Greek authorities to the devastated region.

He called on the relatives of Cypriots, who are currently in countries hit by the earthquake, to advise them to come in touch with the Greek consulate, to arrange their transportation aboard the Greek plane or planes sent by other European countries.

Zackheos said that 96 of the Cypriots, have contacted Cyprus and are well, while other 50 persons have not yet communicated with anyone in Cyprus.

The Cypriot official said the Foreign Ministry was in constant touch with the Greek Foreign Ministry, the European emergency service and the EU Dutch Presidency.

[02] Weather forecast for Cyprus

1230:CYPPRESS:02

Weather forecast for Cyprus

Nicosia, Dec 27 (CNA) -- The Meteorological Office at Larnaca International Airport has issued the following weather forecast for Cyprus:

Tuesday and Wednesday: 28/12/2004 to 29/12/2004 ------- Fair weather with medium and high cloud.

On Tuesday the weather will be light southwesterly to westerly winds, 3 to 4 bf will predominate and the sea state will be slight.

On Wednesday the prevailing winds will be light to moderate, northwesterly to southwesterly, 4 bf.

The sea state will be slight and on the windward coasts up to moderate.

Temperature will be range between 8C to 20C inland and over the coastal areas and between 6C and 16C over the mountains.

Outlook for Thursday and Friday: 30/12/2004 to 31/12/2004 --------------- Fair weather with medium and high cloud. Temperature is not expected to note any significant change.

[03] Weather and Temperatures for Cyprus

1415:CYPPRESS:03

Weather and Temperatures for Cyprus

Nicosia, Dec 27 (CNA) - Today's weather and temperatures for Cyprus,
according to the Meteorological Service at Larnaca International
Airport are:

Temperatures (degrees Celcius)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Station             Maximum       Minimum          Weather
(At 1200 UTC)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Nicosia               18             7              CLOUDY
Larnaca               18             9              FAIR
Limassol              20             9              FAIR     Paphos                18             9              FAIR

[04] Cyprus Stock Exchange

1425:CYPPRESS:04

Cyprus Stock Exchange

Nicosia, Dec 27 (CNA) - The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) All Share
Index closed at today's stock exchange meeting as follows:

INDICES BASE VALUES: FTSEMed=5000, OTHERS=1000

TRADED VALUE                       163.126,99

GSE GENERAL INDEX                       71,98    -0,32    154.980,20
FTSE/CySE 20                           335,86    -0,61     83.496,16
MAIN MARKET INDEX                    1.006,97    -0,57     76.965,82
PARALLEL MARKET INDEX                  910,04     1,37     10.167,86
INVESTMENT COMPANIES MARKET INDEX      892,46     0,86     60.333,89
MAIN AND PARALLEL MARKETS INDEX      1.003,16    -0,51     87.133,68
BANKS INDEX                          1.020,25    -0,80     62.296,18
HOTELS INDEX                           878,75    -1,08        278,26
ALTERNATIVE MARKET INDEX               833,32     0,42     13.224,70
FTSE Med (24/12/2004)                6.756,25     0,64

* The second column presents the percentage variation of the indices

[05] Cyprus Government sees no change in Russian position on Cyprus

1450:CYPPRESS:05

Cyprus Government sees no change in Russian position on Cyprus

Nicosia, Dec 27 (CNA) -- The Cyprus Government does not see any reason to worry for a change in the stance of Russia regarding the Cyprus problem, Cyprus Foreign Ministry Permanent Secretary Sotos Zackheos has said.

[06] Cyprus President sends condolences to quake stricken countries

1455:CYPPRESS:06

Cyprus President sends condolences to quake stricken countries

Nicosia, Dec 27 (CNA) -- Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos has been sending letters of condolences to the governments of the countries where up to 21 thousand people were killed during a tsunami that slammed into coasts from India to Indonesia.

During a press conference today, Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides said as soon as news of the death of people from the waves unleashed from the worlds biggest earthquake in 40 years came out, President Papadopoulos immediately contacted the crisis centre which was set up at the Foreign Ministry. There are more than 160 Cypriots in these countries with around 40 of them still unaccounted for.

The Foreign Ministrys Permanent Secretary Sotos Zackheos said that in many cases people were able to talk to Cypriots on their mobiles but became disconnected when their mobiles had lost signal.

The government is doing everything possible to protect Cypriot citizens in the areas and to grant them every assistance to return to their country, Chrysostomides added.

The Foreign Ministrys Permanent Secretary told the press conference the ministry has been in constant communication with the Greek Foreign Ministry which has chartered a plane to Phuket, Thailand, to secure the return of all Greek nationals. The same plane was scheduled to take to Athens any Cypriot nationals who came forward to the Thai airport, even if their travel documents have been lost.

Zackheos also said that travel agents in Cyprus are making efforts to transfer home their clients from the affected areas.

Meanwhile, Zackheos said that MP Eleni Theocharous, speaking on behalf of the Doctors of the World, informed the Ministry that three Cypriot doctors will leave for Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

He said the Council of Ministers will examine the amount of the humanitarian aid which Cyprus will offer to the countries that have been hit.

The Ministry provided the telephone number of the Thailand Foreign Ministry for information on foreign nationals. The number is 006622417450. The telephone number of Greeces Embassy in Bangkok is 006626791462.

CNA/MK/ÅC/GP/2004 ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

[07] Cyprus House President sends condolences to quake stricken countries

1605:CYPPRESS:07

Cyprus House President sends condolences to quake stricken countries

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