Cyprus News Agency: News in English, 08-01-15

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

CONTENTS

[01] OPEC SG - CYPRUS

[02] CYPRUS - KUWAIT - COOPERATION

[03] CMP - IDENTIFICATIONS

[01] OPEC SG - CYPRUS

Speaking on arrival for his first visit to the country, he expressed hope that Cyprus will find oil in its exclusive economic zone, saying one should not exclude anything.

In his brief statement to the press, he said he would like to cooperate both with big as well as with small countries, adding that two months ago he was in China for talks.

Noting the invitation was extended to him a year ago by the Nicosia Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he said he would be pleased to meet President Tassos Papadopoulos on Wednesday and talk to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Commerce.

Responding to questions, he said he is visiting to know the people and the authorities here in Cyprus and of course to discuss the oil activities, prices, supply and demand.

Also Cyprus is part of the European Union and I am sure they would like to know what is going on on the petroleum activities, he added.

Asked if Cyprus would become an OPEC member, he replied: I hope that you will have some activities and you will discover oil, and referred to the discovery of oil in his native country, Libya, saying that some 50 years ago people did not think there was oil in Libya.

After a few years, Libya was one of the bigger producers in OPEC. So nothing is excluded, he pointed out.

The President of the Nicosia Chamber Christodoulos Agastiniotis welcomed OPEC Secretary General and said on Wednesday he will be the key note speaker at a dinner.

In the past several months, Cyprus has been engaged in talks with its neighbours to delineate its exclusive economic zone. It has already signed an agreement with Egypt on the matter.

OPEC is a permanent, intergovernmental organization, created at the Baghdad Conference in September 1960, by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. The five Founding Members were later joined by nine other Members: Qatar (1961); Indonesia (1962); Socialist Peoples Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (1962); United Arab Emirates (1967); Algeria (1969); Nigeria (1971); Ecuador (1973) suspended its membership from December 1992-December 2007; Angola (2007) and Gabon (19751994). OPEC had its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, in the first five years of its existence. This was moved to Vienna, Austria, in 1965.

[02] CYPRUS - KUWAIT - COOPERATION

There is great potential for mutual investment and for good cooperation in tourism and trade, she said, adding that Nicosia and Kuwait will also push for bilateral agreements. Responding to questions, Marcoullis said all this provides sound foundations for good cooperation between Cyprus and Kuwait, which she described as a small but significant state in the Arab world, which has also experienced similar problems to Cyprus, such as foreign invasion and occupation.

The Minister said all her interlocutors thanked her for the support Cyprus had given to Kuwait when the country was invaded by Iraq. I believe that there is a particular sensitivity in Kuwait when it comes to foreign invasion and occupation and human rights violations, she added.

[03] CMP - IDENTIFICATIONS

The Committee, the press releases says, will pursue its project on the exhumation, identification and return of remains of missing persons in 2008 thanks to the generous contributions received to date from its donors. Exhumations are being carried out island-wide by Cypriot scientists of the CMP bi-communal team, the press release says, adding that CMP scientists, working with the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team, have met with the bi-communal team of geneticists working at the Laboratory of Forensic Genetics of the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics.

The CMP announced that a new series of identifications is expected before the end of the month, after which the Committee will proceed with the return of the remains of those missing individuals to their respective families in accordance with their wishes. The CMP project budget for 2008 is USD 3.5 million/EUR 2.4 million, according to the press release, and a substantial part of that total amount is already covered by a previous European Commission and other donations.

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