Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 00-10-09

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

CONTENTS

[01] HEADLINES

[02] Ivanov

[03] Pangalos

[04] Kyprianou

[05] Labour

[06] Stock Exchange

[07] Yugoslavia

[08] Mideast

[09] Weather MONDAY 9 OCTOBER 2000

[01] HEADLINES

--- Greek Minister for Culture, Theodoros Pangalos, arrives on the island today for a two-day visit, at the invitation of Minister of Education and Culture, Ouranios Ioannides.

--- House of Representatives President, Spyros Kyprianou, said today that the Cyprus problem is at its worst phase since 1974, and that for the first time in history UN resolutions are being questioned.

--- The European Union will endorse the fall of President Slobodan Milosevic later today by partially lifting economic sanctions against Yugoslavia.

And

--- International efforts to end bloodshed in the Middle East redoubled but tension was high as Israel's Monday evening deadline neared for Palestinians to halt their wave of protests.

[02] Ivanov

So far, no new date has been set for his visit to Cyprus.

Mr. Ivanov is now in Syria and will travel to Lebanon and Israel later on, to meet with Israeli and Palestinian officials.

[03] Pangalos

This afternoon, Mr. Pangalos will attend a ceremony during which Mykalis street in Nicosia will be renamed Yiannos Kranidiotis street.

Later tonight, he will speak at an event in memory of Yiannos Kranidiotis, organised among others by the Nicosia Town Hall, PASOK, and the Social Democrats' Movement.

Tomorrow, Mr. Pangalos will be received by President Glafcos Clerides and House of Representatives President Spyros Kyprianou.

He will also meet with Mr. Ioannides, with whom he will sign a Protocol on Cultural Cooperation between Greece and Cyprus, for the years 2001 until 2003.

[04] Kyprianou

Speaking after receiving a group of MPs and Mayors from Greece and Britain, who are in Cyprus to participate in demonstrations organised by the municipality of Turkish-occupied Morphou, Mr. Kyprianou said that if things carry on as they are, then Greek Hellenism on the island would be in danger.

[05] Labour

Minister of Labour, Andreas Moushouttas, said that this week is the result of a joint effort to establish the right of workers to return home safe and sound, and have a better quality of life.

Mr. Moushouttas noted that basic principles of prevention must be followed in order to reach this goal, according to the Safety and Health Law, which provides for avoiding dangers, estimating dangers that cannot be avoided, combating dangers at their source, and adapting work to the worker.

[06] Stock Exchange

The volume of transactions reached 14 million 775 thousand pounds.

[07] Yugoslavia

EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg said they would lift an oil embargo and a flight ban, two of the four sanctions imposed against Yugoslavia last year over Milosevic's policy in the Serbian province of Kosovo.

Lifting the other two -- financial restrictions and a visa ban -- will be trickier and take more time, EU officials said, as the EU wants to avoid helping those who backed Milosevic's government.

An international arms embargo will also stay in place because it was imposed not by the EU, but by the United Nations.

Milosevic conceded defeat on Friday after massive protests backing the opposition's insistence that its candidate, Vojislav Kostunica, had won the September 24 presidential vote outright. Kostunica was sworn in as president at the weekend.

[08] Mideast

International efforts to end bloodshed in the Middle East redoubled but tension was high as Israel's Monday evening deadline neared for Palestinians to halt their wave of protests.

At least 84 people, mostly Palestinians have been killed in 11 days of violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

- - - -

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, currently in Syria, was expected to meet Israeli and possibly Palestinian officials later today.

Russian foreign ministry sources said that Ivanov would fly to the Lebanese capital Beirut and then travel to Israel to contribute to international efforts to ease the latest Middle East crisis.

- - - -

US President Bill Clinton, trying to save Middle East peace after an outbreak of violence, could go to the Middle East for summit talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, a US official said.

He added that there were a number of ideas under consideration but no decision had been made.

- - - -

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan left for the Middle East in an attempt to use personal diplomacy to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.

Annan expects to make a stopover in Geneva and arrive in Tel Aviv tonight after which he is expected to see Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and other regional leaders.

- - - -

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat arrived in Egypt for his third visit in 10 days to discuss Israeli-Palestinian violence which has killed at least 84 people, most of them Palestinians.

Arafat is due to hold talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak about the crisis amid a flurry of international diplomatic activity aimed at stopping the bloodshed.

- - - -

Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa cut short a visit to Turkey, saying President Hosni Mubarak summoned him home for talks on defusing a growing crisis in the Middle East.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has demanded that Palestinian authorities end the violence by tonight, threatening to declare an end to the peace process and use all means to restore order.

- - - -

Diplomatic efforts were expected to intensify to try to head off a regional crisis brewing over the capture of three Israeli soldiers by Hizbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.

Lebanon's President Emile Lahoud, quoted by official media, said the trouble would never have happened if Israel had cooperated with UN efforts to free 19 Lebanese prisoners after it pulled out its troops from south Lebanon in May.

- - - -

Field leaders of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction distributed leaflets declaring a "popular war" and calling for an 11-day "intifada" against Israel to be stepped up.

Fatah officials said members of the mainstream political faction, acting on orders from local leaders and not Arafat, delivered the leaflets to homes and plastered them on shop and car windows in Palestinian-populated areas at night.

- - - -

Jewish settlers attacked Israeli Arabs' homes in northern Israel, killing at least one Arab and undermining hopes that a wave of violence will end before a deadline set by Israel expires.

Clashes took place in Nazareth and in the divided West Bank city of Hebron after the start of the Yom Kippur holiday, the most sacred day in the Jewish new year.

- - - -

US President Bill Clinton and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad spoke by telephone about how to reduce violence and tension in the Middle East.

The United States said Clinton asked Syria to use its influence to restrain the Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbollah and secure the release of three Israeli soldiers seized by Hizbollah on the Lebanese border on Saturday.

Syria said Bashar urged Clinton to use his influence to persuade Israel to stop the escalation of tension in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.

- - - -

US officials defended their decision to abstain and not veto a UN Security Council resolution on violence between Israel and the Palestinians, thereby allowing the measure to go into force.

The resolution, passed 14-0 with the US abstaining, condemned the "excessive use of force against the Palestinians, resulting in injury and loss of human life," and implicitly blamed right-wing Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon for provoking the weeklong rioting when he visited a shrine on Sept. 28 in Jerusalem's Old City, holy to both Muslims and Jews.

- - - -

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein donated 5 million euros to support Palestinian clashes with Israel and opened training camps for Iraqis volunteering to fight the Israelis.

[09] Weather

Winds will be westerly to southwesterly, moderate, four beaufort, over slight to moderate seas.

Tonight will be cloudy with a few local showers in coastal areas.

Winds will be westerly to southwesterly, light, three beaufort, over slight to moderate seas.

Temperatures will drop to 16 degrees inland and along the west coast, to 18 along the south and east coasts, and to 12 over the mountains.

The fire hazard is high in all forest areas.

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