Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 01-11-28

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

CONTENTS

[01] Headlines

[02] National

[03] Christofias

[04] TurkeyCyp

[05] Immigrants

[06] Stock

[07] Afghan

[08] Mideast

[09] Weather WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2001

[01] Headlines

--- Russian former Prime Minister Sergei Stepasin has said that Moscow was in favour of a united, demilitarised Cyprus, adding that the Russian government strongly supports the moves of the Cyprus government.

--- The illegal immigrants who arrived at the Dhekelia British Bases last year have once again been causing trouble.

--- US aircraft ferried Marines and equipment into Afghanistan today to hunt down fugitive militant Osama bin Laden whose Taliban protectors denied all knowledge of his whereabouts.

And

--- US envoy Anthony Zinni toured the West Bank by car today before talks with Palestinian leaders as part of a Middle East mission already marred by bloodshed.

[02] National

AKEL's Parliamentary Spokesman Andreas Christou told CyBC that all parties at yesterday's National Council meeting agreed that President Clerides was right in accepting the Turkish Cypriot leader's invitation to meet on December 4 in Nicosia, noting that Mr. Koutsou did not appear to disagree.

Democratic Rally President Nicos Anastasiades said all sides evaluated the situation and no one disagreed with the President's actions regarding the forthcoming meeting.

Mr. Anastasiades said he was surprised that Mr. Koutsou later disagreed, since he had even put forward suggestions during the National Council meeting.

Mr. Koutsou said he had said he disagreed right from the beginning.

[03] Christofias

Speaking after a meeting with House of Representatives President Demetris Christofias, Mr. Stepasin said that the international community and the Security Council should react strongly to Turkish threats against Cyprus.

Mr. Christofias thanked Russia for reaffirming its position on matters of principle regarding the Cyprus problem.

Before meeting the House President, Mr. Stepasin was received by President Glafcos Clerides.

He later met with Attorney General Alecos Markides.

[04] TurkeyCyp

A European diplomat said the assurance was given by the political director of the British Foreign Office, Peter Rickets, during talks in Ankara, with the participation of an American official.

Meanwhile, the Athens News Agency reported from Constantinople that Turkey believes its demand for non-involvement of the EU in disputes between NATO allies has been met.

The same sources said many issues are still pending, such as the restricted participation of Turkey in EU autonomous operations, where NATO facilities will not be used.

The EU has proposed an advisory role to Turkey, instead of the participation Ankara has been seeking.

[05] Immigrants

Last night, they swarmed the streets of the Richmond settlement, demanding they be allowed to bring their families over and be granted British passports.

The Dhekelia police force, attired in anti-riot gear and backed by a strong British army force, took positions at various points of the settlement.

A Bases spokesman said that after last night's fuss, the illegal immigrants were restricted to their temporary premises.

He added that the situation is under the absolute control of the Dhekelia police.

[06] Stock

Traded value reached 10 million pounds.

[07] Afghan

As talks began yesterday in Bonn on the future of the devastated country, US planes bombed a Taliban compound near their southern stronghold of Kandahar.

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told reporters US warjets raided a compound used by leaders of both the Taliban and bin Laden's al Qaeda group southeast of Kandahar.

But a Taliban spokesman was quoted today as saying that supreme Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar was safe and the whereabouts of bin Laden were unknown.

No Taliban officials, let alone Omar or bin Laden, were in the compound, in the Dand area southwest of Kandahar, when it was bombed, Afghan Islamic Press quoted the former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, Mullah Abdul Zaeef, as saying.

Rumsfeld, briefing reporters at the headquarters of the US Central Command in Tampa, Florida said: "Whoever was there is going to wish they weren't."

US Marines continued to stream into a desert airstrip near Kandahar from where they will search for bin Laden and thousands of his al Qaeda loyalists, as well as help mount an assault on Kandahar, the last bastion of the Taliban.

The Pentagon said 600 Marines had already been ferried in by air from ships in the northern Indian Ocean.

The United States believes Saudi-born bin Laden masterminded the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington that killed about 3,900 people.

Rumsfeld said US troops would soon begin a ground search for bin Laden and his cohorts, tracking them in their network of underground tunnels and caves.

Meanwhile, a world away in tranquil Bonn, by the Rhine, hardened Afghan fighters, tribal leaders, Islamic fundamentalists and exiled royalists settled in for talks to try to end two decades of war that began with a Soviet invasion in December 1979.

A US envoy said all groups agreed on one thing -- that the long-exiled former king, Zahir Shah, now 87 and living in Rome, should play a figurehead role in a transitional government.

The United Nations urged those present not to let Afghanistan slip into chaos and bloodshed again.

[08] Mideast

Zinni flew over Israel and the West Bank in a helicopter with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon yesterday, hovering over the Israeli city of Afula minutes after two Palestinian gunmen killed two Israelis. Police shot dead the gunmen.

The retired Marine Corps general travelled with US consular officials to the West Bank for a closer look at an area where Palestinians see the red roofs of Jewish settlements as obstacles to their aspirations for a state.

He was due to hold talks with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in the West Bank city of Ramallah after completing his road trip around the West Bank.

Zinni's talks with Israeli officials yesterday were overshadowed by violence in which a total of three Palestinian gunmen and three Israelis were killed.

Hours after the Afula shooting, a Palestinian gunman killed an Israeli woman settler in an attack on Israeli vehicles on a main road in Gaza. Israeli soldiers at a nearby post shot and killed the assailant, a member of the militant Hamas group.

An Israeli motorist ran over and killed an elderly Palestinian man near the West Bank city of Nablus today in an incident which Palestinian witnesses said was intentional and carried out by a settler.

Israeli police said initial findings showed it was an accident.

Words as well as the bullets flew between the two sides, underlining the difficulties Zinni faces in trying to end 14 months of Israeli-Palestinian conflict which has killed more than 900 people.

[09] Weather

Winds will be northeasterly to easterly, moderate, four beaufort, over slight to moderate seas, in windward areas.

Tonight will be clear, with passing clouds.

Winds will be northeasterly to easterly, moderate to strong, four to five beaufort, over moderate to rough seas.

Temperatures will drop to 9 degrees inland, to 13 along the coast, and to 5 over the mountains.

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