Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 03-09-10

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

CONTENTS

[01] HEADLINES

[02] PAPANDREOU

[03] DENKTASH

[04] MIDEAST

[05] IRAQ

[06] INDONESIA

[07] IRAN

[08] SECONDARY SCHOOLS OPEN

[09] WEATHER Wednesday 10/09/2003

[01] HEADLINES

-- Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash revealed that the illegal regime and Turkey are working on a plan for a Cyprus settlement which he claimed will be a surprise and will replace the Annan Plan.

-- An Israeli warplane killed at least two Palestinians but narrowly failed in an attempt to assassinate a Hamas leader in Gaza today , a day after two suicide bombers killed 15 people in Israel.

--An Indonesian court today sentenced a fiery Muslim militant to death for masterminding bomb attacks in Bali that it said were aimed at hurting foreigners and taking revenge on the United States. And

-- Secondary education schools opened in Cyprus today for the new school year.

[02] PAPANDREOU

During the talks, they will discuss the tactics which the two governments will follow during contacts on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly later this month.

Mr. Papandreou is expected to arrive at Larnaca airport at 1.30 and at four thirty he will meet President Tassos Papadopoulos. A meeting with delegations of the two governments will follow.

Earlier the foreign ministers of both countries will hold discussions. At six thirty he will meet KS EDEK leader Yiannakis Omirou.

Mr. Papandreou will also address a bicommunal gathering at the buffer zone, which is expected to be attended by Turkish Cypriot political party leaders.

His arrival and statements after talks with President Papadopoulos will be aired live from CyBc's First TV Channel.

[03] DENKTASH

Mr. Denktash was speaking on illegal Bayrak TV, Mr Denktash avoided giving more details, saying the plan will be a surprise.

He also said the deliberations for the preparation of the plan are at its final stage.

Disturbed by US State Department Coordinator Thomas Weston's support to the Turkish Cypriot opposition, Mr. Denktash said that this was never the case before that the US would want to support the opposition and not the majority which wants to protect the illegal regime.

[04] MIDEAST

The plane fired a missile at the home of Mahmoud al-Zahar, one of Hamas's top political officials, killing his eldest son and a bodyguard, as a new wave of tit-for-tat violence drowned a dying U.S.-backed peace plan in blood.

Zahar was standing in the doorway of his house at the time of the strike and was thrown clear by the force of the explosion. He sustained only slight injuries to his head and back but his wife was seriously hurt, medics said.

Thousands of angry Hamas supporters took to the streets of Gaza chanting for revenge. Some fired guns in the air as others clawed through the rubble of Zahar's two-storey home.

It was the latest in a series of Israeli strikes against Hamas leaders since a suicide bombing killed 22 people on a Jerusalem bus last month.

Yasser Abed Rabbo, a Palestinian cabinet minister, told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah that they condemn this crime because it will only lead to fuelling the cycle of violence.

Two Palestinian suicide bombings yesterday provoked Israeli threats to put Yasser Arafat in "solitary confinement" at his West Bank compound, cutting him off from the outside world.

Israeli officials indicated that proposals to re-impose a tight siege on the Palestinan president, who has been largely confined to his battered headquarters for nearly two years, are under close consideration as an alternative to exiling him.

[05] IRAQ

The bomb exploded last night 350 km north of Baghdad in Kurdish-dominated territory, which has been spared much of the violence U.S.-led forces have been battling to stamp out since they ousted Saddam Hussein on April 9.

A U.S. soldier became the 68th to be killed in action in Iraq since the official end of major combat on May 1 when his vehicle was hit by an explosives attack northeast of Baghdad.

The two incidents hammered home the cost of the U.S.-led occupation hours after Iraq's American-appointed Governing Council took a step towards international legitimacy by securing a seat at an Arab League meeting in Cairo.

For months, U.S. troops have faced guerrilla attacks in Iraq. But the car bombs targeting foreign involvement in Iraq and locals working with occupying powers have taken violence to a higher level, killing more than 120 people since August 7.

[06] INDONESIA

Imam Samudra responded with trademark defiance, shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) and punching the air when the verdict was announced.

Samudra then struggled with police holding his arms as he tried to turn and face a few survivors and others in the court.

Before being led out, he shouted "America, Australia go to hell!" at an Australian who waved his national flag adorned with small photographs of the 88 Australians killed in last year's attacks.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer welcomed the verdict, branding Samudra one of the villains of the bombings.

One other key suspect has already been sentenced to death over the October 12 attacks, which killed 202 people, mainly Western tourists partying in nightclubs on the resort island.

The judge said the defendant worked behind the scenes as the coordinator so the panel of judges has an opinion that the defendant is the intellectual actor behind the bomb attack.

Defence lawyers said they would appeal.

[07] IRAN

The official IRNA news agency quoted an Iranian Foreign Ministry official as saying yesterday's shooting, which prompted a diplomatic protest by Britain, happened as police chased a car in the area. The building was hit by gunshots in a drive-by shooting last week.

Britain said it had protested strongly to Iran over the latest shooting. A British diplomat in Tehran said three or four shots had been fired at or near the embassy from a motorcycle.

The incidents have added to an already charged atmosphere between Tehran and London over Britain's arrest, at Argentina's request, of a former Iranian diplomat in connection with the 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre in Buenos Aires that killed 85.

Britain has requested an urgent investigation and called for those responsible to be brought to justice.

[08] SECONDARY SCHOOLS OPEN

Problems are also faced with the measures announced by the Secondary Schools Association OELMEK

A total of fifty-eight and a half thousand students attended classes today, of which thirty thousand at gymnasiums, 23 thousand at Lyceums and five and a half thousand at technical schools.

[09] WEATHER

Tomorrow the weather will remain clear. Winds will south-westerly to north-westerly light, two to three beaufort and the sea calm to slight. Temperatures will fall to 19 C inland and on the coast and 13 over the mountains. The fire hazard remains extremely high in all forest areas.

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