Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 99-05-25

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From: The Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation at <http://www.cybc.com.cy/>

CONTENTS

TUESDAY 25 MAY 99

[01] HEADLINES

[02] YUGOSLAVIA

[03] NATO FORCES

[04] KASOULIDES

[05] SEREZIS CYPRUS

[06] CHINA USA SECRETS

[07] TURKEY GOVERNMENT

[08] BELGIAN DEAD

[09] FORESTRY INDUSTRIES

[10] STOCK EXCHANGE TECHNOLOGY

[11] WEATHER

[01] HEADLINES

--- Beijing today dismissed a US congressional report accusing it of stealing US nuclear secrets.

--- The junior partner in Turkish coalition talks said today that a deal would be completed at the end of the week.

--- A 71-year-old woman from Belgium, living in Larnaca, was found murdered in her apartment today.

AND

--- The new automated stock exchange system at the Cyprus Stock Exchange was inaugurated today.

[02] YUGOSLAVIA

US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott arrived in Moscow to explore prospects for an end to the conflict, and acknowledged the crisis was taking its toll on relations between Russia and the West.

He said he would have talks tomorrow with Russia's special Balkan envoy, Viktor Chernomyrdin, and the European Union's chief mediator, Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari.

The Russian envoy is expected to return to Belgrade for further talks with President Slobodan Milosevic later this week.

NATO began the bombing campaign on March 24, aiming to force Mr Milosevic to end military repression of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority.

Hundreds of thousands of Kosovo Albanians have since fled or been expelled to neighbouring countries.

In the air war, strategic targets in the Yugoslav capital Belgrade again came under attack overnight.

The independent Beta news agency reported that two or three missiles hit the Serbian Interior Ministry building, badly damaged in previous strikes, but failed to explode.

Powerful explosions were heard in the Batajnica area, site of a military airport which has been a frequent focus of NATO attacks.

The state news agency Tanjug said that seven missiles had hit power lines in a forest near Obrenovac and caused blackouts in some parts of Belgrade.

[03] NATO FORCES

The force, known as KFOR Plus, is expected to number 45,000 to 50,000 troops. The exact figure and composition of the mission will be determined by military commanders in the course of the week.

NATO has already deployed nearly 14,000 troops in FYROM, on the southern border of Kosovo, as the core of KFOR, which is officially known as Operation Joint Guardian.

Two thousand more troops from Britain are on their way, raising the British contribution to around 9,000.

NATO spokesman Jamie Shea said today that the force would be heavily armed with "big, sharp teeth" to enable it to repel any attempts to oppose its mandate or threaten its personnel.

The core of the force already in FYROM is equipped with British and German main battle tanks, scores of armoured fighting vehicles and French attack helicopters.

The United States is expected to contribute about 7,000 troops or about 15 percent of KFOR.

NATO Supreme Commander General Wesley Clark says it is very important that KFOR's additional units be deployed to the Kosovo theatre as quickly as possible.

[04] KASOULIDES

Mr Kasoulides confirmed information that due to the stance maintained by the House of Representatives on the Yugoslavia issue, some European countries are creating problems in Cyprus' EU accession course, regarding the chapter on EU common foreign and security policy.

He said that the Cyprus Government does not believe that it would be useful to react publicly at the moment.

He added, however, that Cyprus will react when the matter is examined by the EU.

Mr Kasoulides pointed out that difficulties arose in other matters as well, adding that ways were found to agree on a common position and close the chapters.

[05] SEREZIS CYPRUS

Government Spokesman, Costas Serezis, said today that the G8 has not yet formed a position on the Cyprus problem.

He said that Nicosia is expecting the Group to support the proposal of UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, when he calls the two sides for talks.

Mr Serezis welcomed statements by Russian Ambassador to Cyprus, Georgi Muratov, who had said that his country insists that the G8 text should include a reference to the UN Security Council decisions on the Cyprus problem.

[06] CHINA USA SECRETS

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao told reporters that some people in the United States insist on clinging to the Cold War mentality.

He said that these people harbour deep prejudice and hostility towards China and have created a lot of rumours to try to disturb and destroy Sino-US relations.

Mr Zhu said that their goal is to stir up anti-Chinese sentiment by spreading the theory of a China threat.

He also suggested the charges were being used to deflect Chinese criticism of NATO's bombing of Beijing's embassy in Yugoslavia on May 7.

A US Congress report alleged that China stole US nuclear weapons design secrets from government laboratories over 20 years and was using the information to upgrade its own arsenal.

[07] TURKEY GOVERNMENT

Conservative leader Mesut Yilmaz told his party's MPs that the new coalition between Mr Ecevit's leftists and hardline nationalists would face a vote of confidence in parliament on June 6.

Mr Yilmaz also said that a government list would be submitted at the presidential palace on Friday.

[08] BELGIAN DEAD

Altea Esel Downing was found dead in her bath with knife wounds on her throat, her chest and her stomach.

Downing was found by the owner of the apartment, who opened the door after knocking for a while with no reply.

She had been living in Cyprus since 1975 and had moved into the flat in 1993.

Downing had both a Belgian and a Cypriot passport.

Police investigations indicated that Downing had probably been murdered over the past 24 hours.

[09] FORESTRY INDUSTRIES

The demonstrators visited House of Representatives President, Spyros Kyprianou, who agreed that a committee must be set up immediately to look into the matter.

The workers then proceeded to the Presidential Palace, where they were received by the Director of the President's Office, Nicos Panayiotou, who promised to pass on their views to President Glafcos Clerides.

[10] STOCK EXCHANGE TECHNOLOGY

Mr Clerides said that the Stock Exchange is moving along the right lines and that it can cope with the new demands of the market.

Responding to questions, Mr Clerides said that some political parties have suggested that the gains from share sales be taxed.

He said that the Government would seriously examine these proposals, adding that the decision to be taken would not only be based on tax collecting criteria.

The Chairman of the Stock Exchange board, Dinos Papadopoulos, said that the new system was a milestone in the modernisation and upgrading of the Stock Exchange.

[11] WEATHER

There will be a moderate seabreeze of four beaufort. On the south coast, in the afternoon, winds will be strong, five beaufort.

The temperature will reach 27 degrees inland, 26 on the coast, and 21 over the mountains.

The fire hazard is very high in all forest areas.

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