Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 03-09-02

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

CONTENTS

[01] HEADLINES

[02] SPOKESMAN

[03] DENKTASH

[04] INTERIOR MINISTRY ELECTIONS

[05] TURKEY KURDS

[06] CHINA KOREA

[07] IRAQ BLAST

[08] ASTEROID

[09] LSOL ROBBERY

[10] TC END

[11] WEATHER

[12] WEATHER1 Tuesday 2/9/03

[01] HEADLINES

-- The Interior Ministry is expecting the decision of the parties on what they intend to do with the European elections, so that the ministry can start preparations for the June 2004 elections.

--Kurdish rebels have announced the end of their five-year ceasefire with Turkey because of Ankara's failure to match the truce.

and,

--China appealed to negotiators at last week's six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear crisis today to keep the process alive.

[02] SPOKESMAN

Regarding the activity of the religious organisation EVKAF in the closed area and the claim that a greek Cypriot businessman is interested in developing in the area, the Spokesman said the government has no such information.

He added that the government is closely monitoring developments and is demanding the area is returned to its legitimate citizens, according to UN resolutions.

[03] DENKTASH

Mr. Denktash reiterated his committment to the past, noting that those who evaluate in detail the past can proceed firmly in the future.

[04] INTERIOR MINISTRY ELECTIONS

Interior Minister Andreas Christou said President of the Republic Tassos Papadopoulos discussed the issue with party leaders and did not rule out the issue being examined at the National COuncil.

Mr. Christou expressed hope that Turkish Cypriots will be able to vote in the elections.

[05] TURKEY KURDS

The PKK rebels, also known as KADEK, have been fighting for an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey since 1984. More than 30,000 people have died in the conflict, though violence largely subsided after the 1999 capture of rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan.

KADEK was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the Europe-based Mezopotamya News Agency that the unilateral ceasefire has come to an end as of September 1 and that the ceasefire can only continue bilaterally.

[06] CHINA KOREA

After the first round concluded on Friday, China said all sides -- China, Japan, Russia, the United States and the two Koreas -- had agreed to meet again within two months.

But the next day, North Korean officials said there was no point in going forward because of Washington's hardline stance.

North Korea appeared to backtrack today, restating its will to resolve the standoff via dialogue. China's Foreign Ministry brushed off questions about North Korea's comments over the weekend and the United States' unwillingness to compromise.

[07] IRAQ BLAST

The explosion damaged the office of the U.S.-appointed Baghdad police chief, Hassan Ali, who was not in the complex at the time of the attack.

Police Brigadier Saeed Muneim said Ali was probably the target of the blast.

In the latest guerrilla attack, two U.S. soldiers serving with a military police unit were killed when their vehicle hit an explosive device on one of Baghdad's main supply routes.

Iraq has seen a series of bomb attacks in the past few weeks. A car bomb killed a top Shi'ite Muslim cleric and more than 80 others in the city of Najaf on Friday. Bombings also hit the U.N. headquarters and the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad.

[08] ASTEROID

But for those fearing Armageddon, don't be alarmed -- the chances of a catastrophic collision are just one in 909,000.

Asteroid "2003 QQ47" will be closely monitored over the next two months. Its potential strike date is March 21, 2014, but astronomers say that any risk of impact is likely to decrease as further data is gathered.

On impact, it could have the effect of 20 million Hiroshima atomic bombs, a spokesman for the British government's Near Earth Object Information Centre told BBC radio.

Asteroids such as 2003 QQ47 are chunks of rock left over from the formation of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago. Most are kept at a safe distance from the Earth in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

[09] LSOL ROBBERY

The armeed culprit entered the branch around nine, wearing a hat and black sunglasses and took away eight thousand pounds. He disappeared in a car which was parked outside the bank.

No customers were in the bank at the time of the incident.

After a two hour manhunt, Police arrested near the Polemidia army camp a driver of a double cabin truck who is being questioned.

[10] TC END

Tthousands of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots offered blood samples in an effort to find a suitable bone marrow donor that would help the little girl stay alive.

Sakaoglou returned a month ago from the Bristol University Clinic but her health suffered a severe setback.

She was buried yesterday at Turkish occupied Morfou. Her funeral was attended by Marinos Ioannides who coordinated the bicommunal blood donation, representatives of the Karaiskakion Foundation and Vasos Vasiliou who began the blood donation.

[11] WEATHER

According to the Head of the Meteorological Department, Kyriakos Theofilou, from Thursday until Monday there will be a decrease of up to three centigrades and he does not exclude the possibility that temperatures will fall below 30 Degrees by Saturday. He also said that there will be local rain and isolated storms in the next three days.

[12] WEATHER1

Tonight the weather will be clear with thin mist and low cloud while mist will form in some areas. Winds will be westerly to north-westerly light, two to three beaufort and the sea slight. Temperatures will fall to 24 degrees inland, on the south and east coast and 22 over the west, north and mountains.

The fire hazard remains extremely high in all forest areas.

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