Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 99-10-12

Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

CONTENTS

TUESDAY 12 OCTOBER 1999

[01] HEADLINES

[02] SIMITIS ECEVIT

[03] CLINTON GREECE

[04] VASILLIOU EU

[05] EU ISRAEL

[06] HOLGER CY

[07] CHECHNYA

[08] AUSTRIA ELECTIONS

[09] CSE SCANDAL

[10] BOMB LIMASSOL

[11] WEATHER

[01] HEADLINES

The dates of the US President's visit to Greece have been changed;

The six EU candidate-states, including Cyprus, hold a joint press conference;

The UN Secretary-General's new Special Representative for Cyprus is scheduled to leave for the island today;

Russian forces report progress in rooting out Islamic militant networks in Chechnya;

The shape of Austria's next government remains wide open given the country's general election results;

A new scandal breaks out at the Cyprus Stock Exchange;

A bomb rocked Limassol in the early hours of this morning;

[02] SIMITIS ECEVIT

Prime Minister Simitis concluded by expressing the hope that similar gestures will be made by Turkey, both as regards greco-turkish relations as well as the Cyprus Issue.

Turkey's head of government responded merely by saying that greco-turkish differences should be totally separated from the Cyprus Issue.

[03] CLINTON GREECE

The announcement was made following a meeting of White House and State Department officials with Greek Foreign Ministry functionaries, during which issues related to the visit were discussed.

According to diplomatic sources, the change was effected because Mrs Clinton wishes to accompany her husband on the trip, and the originally-set dates of November 26th to 28th did not suit her, resulting in the visit now being scheduled to take place between the 13th and 15th of November.

[04] VASILLIOU EU

Speaking at a joint press conference at the end of the meeting, Cyprus' Chief EU-negotiator George Vassiliou said that a relevant letter stressing the six candidate-states' desire to continue and even speed up accession negotiations, will be sent to European Commission President Romano Prodi, with a copy circulated to the Finnish EU Presidency.

Speaking at the same press conference, Estonia's Foreign Minister said that there was a useful exchange of opinions, and greeted what he described as the excellent climate of co-operation among all six EU candidate-states.

[05] EU ISRAEL

Following the meeting, European diplomatic sources mentioned that the Israeli government was repeatedly asked to give the asurance that no new Jewish settlements will be constructed, while Foreign Minister Levi voiced his satisfaction over the meeting and said that he views the future with optimisim.

[06] HOLGER CY

Already, plans have been announced for Mr Holger to leave New York en route to the island in order to assume his new duties following the resignation of Dame Ann Hercus.

James Holger, a Chilean national, has also served in Cyprus in the past.

[07] CHECHNYA

Defence ministry statements carried by Russian news agencies said that the army was digging in across the flatland of Chechnya it now occupies as part of a nearly three-week air and land offensive in the secessionist region.

Moscow says it is striking at warlords outside the control of the relatively moderate separatists who have run Chechnya since the early 1990s.

Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov offered to clamp down on the extremists as part of a peace plan presented over the weekend, but Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and other senior officials have all but dismissed the plan.

Meanwhile, Russian military sources report that efforts to establish an "impenetrable" security zone in Chechnya are proceeding as scheduled, with Defence Ministry units strengthening their positions and carrying out search and intelligence missions.

[08] AUSTRIA ELECTIONS

In the country's most dramatic election result since World War Two, the People's Party of Foreign Minister Wolfgang Schuessel finished just 415 votes behind Joerg Haider's anti-foreigner Freedom Party, out of 4.62 million valid votes cast.

Announcing the final tally after the counting of some 250,000 absentee ballots, Interior Minister Karl Schloegl said the Social Democrats had won 33.15% of the vote, while the Freedom and the People's Parties each gleaned 26.91%.

In an announcement, the Freedom party leader pledged to stop immigration, adding that he would invite the conservative People's Party to form a coalition.

Given the results, the shape of Austria's next government remains wide open, with current Foreign Minister Wolfgang Schuessel holding the balance of power.

[09] CSE SCANDAL

Specifically, Mr Klappas made reference to the existence of multiple title deeds, with some five to ten companies issuing share certificates before obtaining confirmations of purchase, and suggested that trading in the specified companies' shares be suspended. One brokerage firm, "Share Link Securities Ltd", has already announced that it will not accept sale orders for Popular Bank, Orphanides, Louis, Kasoulides, Apollo and Leptos shares.

Reacting to the claim, Stock Exchange Board Chairman Dinos Papadopoulos said that a suspension is by no means necessary, indicating that the problem can be resolved in other ways, while the Popular bank Group refuted all charges.

[10] BOMB LIMASSOL

According to preliminary police investigations, the blast was due to a makeshift high-powered explosive device which caused extensive damage to a car parked on Loukianos Street and belonging to Policeman Pavlos Pavlou.

Commenting on the incident, Limassol's Police Chief said that the attack does not appear to be linked to the victim's profession, adding that investigations are continuing.

[11] WEATHER

Generally fair conditions are also forecast for tonight, with skies once again being marked by some light passing cloud. Winds will turn to moderate northeast-to-northwesterlies, 3BF, gusting locally to 4BF, on moderate seas. Temperatures will drop to 18C inland and along the coasts, and 10C on the higher reaches of the Troodos mountains.

The fire hazard remains extremely high in all forest areas.

Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article