Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 03-05-07

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

CONTENTS

[01] HEADLINES

[02] UN SPOKESMAN

[03] MAVRONICOLAS

[04] PAPANDREOU

[05] LEDRA PALACE

[06] SADDAM TAPE

[07] IRAQ WANTED

[08] SARS

[09] MIDEAST MILITANT

[10] LEBANON BLAST

[11] WEATHER WEDNESDAY 7 MAY 2003

[01] HEADLINES

-- Defence Minister, Koulis Mavronicolas said that from the positions expressed by Turkey's Foreign Minister, Abdullah Gul, it is evident that the partial lifting of the restrictions in the freedom of movement was just a movement to create impressions.

-- The Cyprus problem is becoming more and more a european issue with the island's accession to the EU, said Greek Foreign Minister, George Papandreou

-- An Australian newspaper said today it had been handed an audiotape in Baghdad of a message, possibly from ousted leader Saddam Hussein, calling on the Iraqi people to wage a "secret" war against U.S. forces. And, -The number of SARS cases in China, continues to rise

[02] UN SPOKESMAN

UN Secretary General's spokesman Fred Eckhard said that ''according to figures provided by the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus, as of May 4th, approximately 170,000 Greek Cypriots had crossed from south to north while 75,000 Turkish Cypriots had done the reverse trip''.

[03] MAVRONICOLAS

In statements to CyBC Radio, Mr. Mavronicolas said the Greek Cypriot side should underline the issue to the European Union so that there is pressure on Turkey.

Mr. Mavronicolas said he has given instructions prohibiting National Guard members and officers to cross to the occupied areas.

[04] PAPANDREOU

During a lecture he gave in Oxford entitled "The EU after the war in Iraq", Mr. Papandreou said a Cyprus settlement will function according to EU methods.

He also said that what is happening on the island flatly reject the allegations that it is impossible for the two communities to live together peacefully. He further said the dynamic created can be exploited to help find a settlement, provided the turkish Cypriot side shows the necessary political will.

[05] LEDRA PALACE

According to the Turkish Cypriot press, the shop owners are preparing mass demonstrations to persuade the so called "Nicosia Municipality" in the occupied areas to open the checkpoint.

Meanwhile, around 800 Cypriots crossed the ceasefire line today, according to figures released by the police.

A police press release said that by eight this morning 231 Turkish Cypriots came into the southern government controlled part of Cyprus and 556 Greek Cypriots went to the northern Turkish occupied areas, all of whom used the three available crossing points, one in Nicosia and two on the south east.

Yesterday over 8.000 people crossed the ceasefire line, 6.050 Greek Cypriots and 2.528 Turkish Cypriots.

[06] SADDAM TAPE

The Sydney Morning Herald said it was handed the tape on Monday after the people in possession of it failed to pass it on to Arabic cable news network al-Jazeera.

It said it would make the tape available to U.S. authorities later today and also to al-Jazeera.

In a 15-minute monologue, a tired-sounding voice, interspersed with coughs, tells Iraqis how to "face the invaders and kick them out from Iraq".

Saddam Hussein reportedly says he is inside Iraq and calls on Arabs, Kurds, Shia and Sunni, Muslims and Christians and the whole Iraqi people of all religions, to kick the enemy out of the country.

[07] IRAQ WANTED

U.S. Central Command said in a statement Ghazi Hamud al-Adib, number 32 on its list, "is now in coalition custody", but gave no details of where he was taken, if he was caught or turned himself in.

Saddam and his two sons, Qusay and Uday, are at the top of the list.

[08] SARS

The figures took the cumulative cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome to 1,654 in Hong Kong and the death toll there to 204.

The city is the worst SARS-hit area in the world outside of mainland China.

The flu-like disease, which is widely believed to have originated in southern China, hit Hong Kong in March and has been spread around the world by travellers.

China said today five more people had died from SARS and another 159 were infected, taking the death toll to 219 and the number of cases to 4,560.

The Health Ministry said three of the new deaths were in Beijing, currently the hardest hit place in the world, along with 97 of the latest cases.

[09] MIDEAST MILITANT

A source from Hamas, which has led a campaign of suicide bombings inside Israel during a 31-month-old Palestinian uprising for statehood, said soldiers in the village of Zawata had opened fire at the building in which the militant commander was hiding.

The source said the militant was known to be wanted by the Israeli military in the last two years.

An Israeli military source said the army had no connection to the blast in the apartment.

[10] LEBANON BLAST

Security sources said the device was placed outside the ground floor apartment of a Dutch missionary and his German wife in a suburb of Tripoli, traditionally a stronghold of Sunni Muslim Islamists in Lebanon.

It was the second attack on Christian missionaries in Lebanon in six months, and the most recent in a string of attacks on Western targets that has picked up pace since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

[11] WEATHER

The sea will be slight to moderate on the north-east to easterly coastal areas. Temperatures will reach 34 C inland, 32 C on the south and east coast, 26 C on the west and 23 on the mountains.

Tonight, the weather will remain clear. Winds will be northerly to north-easterly light, two to three beaufort and the sea slight. Temperatures will fall to 15 C inland and on the mountains, 17 on the south and east coast and 13 on the west.

The fire hazard remains very high in all forest areas.

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