Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 03-09-25

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

CONTENTS

[01] HEADLINES

[02] PAPS UN ASSEMBLY

[03] TASSOS SOTO

[04] PAPS MEETINGS

[05] IACOVOU

[06] IRAQ HASHEMI DEAD

[07] IRAQ NBC

[08] MIDEAST

[09] BRITAIN VOTE

[10] PRODI EUROSTAT

[11] WEATHER Thursday 25/9/03

[01] HEADLINES

--Yesterday, President Papadopoulos discussed in New York with UN Secretary General's Special Advisor for Cyprus Alvaro De Soto the type of amendments the Greek Cypriot side is pursuing in the Annan plan and the procedure Mr. Papadopoulos deems should be followed for the discussion of these amendments.

-- Akila al-Hashemi, a member of Iraq's U.S.-appointed Governing Council, has died from wounds sustained in a gun attack on Saturday.

And,

--- Israeli soldiers killed a leader of the Islamic Jihad movement and three other Palestinian militants today in raids in the Gaza Strip and West Bank which drew immediate vows of revenge.

[02] PAPS UN ASSEMBLY

President Papadopoulos' speech will be at five this afternoon and will be transmitted live from CyBC 1 tv channel.

President Papadopoulos will also give a press conference after the address and will then meet at seven with Mr. Annan.

[03] TASSOS SOTO

He also expressed the readiness of the Greek Cypriot side to enter talks based on the Annan Plan.

According to the CyBC correspondent in New York, Mr. De Soto agreed that changes are necessary to the Annan Plan.

[04] PAPS MEETINGS

Speaking after the meetings Mr. Papadopoulos said that he requested the three leaders' help so that the role of the Denktash regime in the Turkish-occupied part of Cyprus will not be upgraded in the framework of the Islamic Conference in which these Algeria, Senegal and Kuwait participate.

They also discussed bilateral relations, issues on the Islamic Conference agenda and President Papadopoulos briefed the leaders on the efforts to reach a Cyprus settlement.

[05] IACOVOU

He said that the points in the Annan Plan which require changes were not raised during the meetings.

Mr. Weston, said the Foreign Minister, asked to be informed as to what are the proposals of the Greek Cypriot side in case the Secretary-General decides to resume his initiative.

Mr. Iacovou said the US officials believe that the resumption of the dialogue at the moment would not serve any purpose because of Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash's negative stance. They believe that it would be catalytic only after the so called "elections".

The Foreign Minister said Mr. Weston repeated the US position that observers from non-governmental organisations should be sent to the Turkish occupied north of Cyprus to monitor the elections. Furthermore, they believe that only if the opposition wins the "elections" there will be developments.

President Papadopoulos rejected the proposal for observers, noting that already thousands of Turkish settlers have been registered in the lllegal electoral lists. The Americans, said Mr. Iacovou, assured the President that they are closely monitoring the elections and if necessary will intervene.

[06] IRAQ HASHEMI DEAD

Paul Bremer, speaking on behalf of the Coalition Provisional Authority and its members, he offered condolences to her family, her colleagues on the Governing Council and the people of Iraq.

Gunmen fired on a car carrying Hashemi, a career diplomat from a prominent Shi'ite Muslim family, near her home in a Baghdad suburb on Saturday morning. She sustained wounds to the abdomen. Three people travelling with her were also wounded.

After initial treatment in a Baghdad hospital, she was transferred to a U.S. military hospital.

Guerrillas opposed to the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq have targeted Iraqis cooperating with Bremer's administration as well as U.S. and British soldiers and other Westerners.

Mr. Bremer said in a statement that with her steadfast commitment to a free, democratic and peaceful Iraq, Dr al-Hashemi served as an inspiration to her nation.

[07] IRAQ NBC

The blast, which echoed across central Baghdad at dawn, shattered windows around the three-floor Aike Hotel, wounding some guests with flying glass.

David Moodie, a 44-year-old NBC soundman and engineer, said he had been in bed in a first floor room above where the bomb exploded around 0300 GMT.

Police said the bomb was placed on the pavement a few metres from the hotel and near a generator. The blast left a crater about one metre wide and five centimetres deep in the concrete.

[08] MIDEAST

Troops shot dead Diab Shyoukhi, the Islamic Jihad's leader for the southern West Bank, and another fugitive militant in a shootout during the night at their hideout near the West Bank city of Hebron.

Soldiers also killed two militants in a gunfight at the el-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza in which six soldiers and six other Palestinians including gunmen were wounded.

The killing of Shyoukhi, who was in hiding because he was on an Israeli hit list, was a high-profile success for the army as it tries to wipe out groups that have killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings.

[09] BRITAIN VOTE

The latest sounding in the Guardian newspaper made grim reading for the beleaguered prime minister as an inquiry into the suicide of Dr David Kelly wraps up.

Mr. Blair's ratings have slumped over the summer so that now 61 percent of voters are unhappy with the job he is doing.

His rating for trustworthiness has fallen nine points since July to just 30 percent. An overwhelming 70 percent say he is far too concerned with public relations and "spin doctoring".

Throughout the last two months, Mr. Blair's administration has been put under a harsh spotlight by a judicial inquiry into the death of Kelly, who was embroiled in a bitter row between the BBC and the government over Britain's case for war against Iraq.

Kelly killed himself after being named as the source of a BBC report claiming Blair had "sexed up" evidence of Iraq's weapons to justify war.

[10] PRODI EUROSTAT

Ahead of a closed-door parliamentary hearing on the scandal at Eurostat, the head of the assembly's Liberal Democrats repeated a call for the commissioner responsible for the agency, Pedro Solbes, to resign if there was proof of wrongdoing.

Three reports on the alleged fraud released yesterday showed millions of euros going astray through suspected double accounting, fictitious contracts and slush funds at Eurostat.

Mr. Prodi got some comfort from the reports as they laid most of the blame at the former head of Eurostat, already removed from his post. But they also pinpointed failings in the Commission, which led to some of the alleged wrongdoings going on.

It is the worst crisis to hit Mr. Prodi since he took office, pledging zero tolerance of fraud after the previous EU executive had to quit in 1999 over nepotism allegations.

[11] WEATHER

TOnight the weather will be clear. Winds will be north-westerly to north-easterly two to three beaufort. The sea will be calm to slight. Temperatures will fall to 18 C inland and on the west coast, 20 over the south and east and 14 over the mountains.

The fire hazard remains extremely high in all forest areas.

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