Cyprus News Agency: News in English, 11-11-04

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

CONTENTS

[01] HOUSE - MARI BLAST - RESOLUTION

[01] HOUSE - MARI BLAST - RESOLUTION

Thirty-three MPs voted in favour of the resolution. Eighteen left-wing AKEL party MPs voted against (one AKEL MP was absent).

In its resolution, the House calls on President Christofias ``to rise to the occasion and with his voluntary resignation contribute to the creation of the desired conditions so that the country and the people can overcome problems.

Thirteen people were killed and dozens were injured when a massive explosion occurred at ``Evangelos Florakis`` naval base, near Limassol, on the southern coast, in the early hours of July 11th. The blast badly damaged the islands main power plant, at Vassiliko.

The blast occurred in containers full of munitions, which Cyprus had confiscated from ``Monchegorsk``, a vessel sailing from Iran to Syria in 2009. Nicosia was acting in accordance with UN sanctions against Teheran.

Following the incident, the Cabinet had appointed a single-member Commission of Inquiry, headed by Polys Polyviou, to investigate events which led to the deadly explosion and allocate political responsibilities.

The Commission`s report said that the President of the Republic bears grave personal responsibilities for the tragic blast. It also said that former Ministers of Defence and Foreign Affairs have serious responsibility, and noted that the Fire Service did not act when it should have done so, days prior to the explosion.

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