Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 03-10-07

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

CONTENTS

[01] HEADLINES

[02] DUTCH PRESSER

[03] CHRISTOFIAS

[04] OCCUPIED AREAS

[05] IRAQ BOMB

[06] IRAQ

[07] IRAQ TURKEY

[08] SYRIA ISRAEL

[09] USA POLITICS

[10] WEATHER Tuesday 7/10/03

[01] HEADLINES

-- The regime in the Turkish occupied northern part of Cyprus continues to hand out to the hundreds of settlers the so called "turkish Cypriot citizenship".

-- A blast hit the compound of the Iraqi Foreign Ministry in Baghdad today but security guards at the building said there appeared to have been no casualties.

--Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accused Israel today of trying to drag Syria and the rest of the Middle East into wider conflict in his first public comments on the weekend Israeli air strike near Damascus.

And,

-- California recall election looked too close to call hours from the start of polling on Tuesday in a race for governor in which Republican muscleman-turned-Hollywood-film-star Arnold Schwarzenegger sought to unseat technocrat Democrat Gray Davis.

[02] DUTCH PRESSER

Speaking after official talks here today with President Tassos Papadopoulos on the second and last day of his visit, he said Ankara must comply with the Copenhagen criteria and said the EU is looking forward to a political settlement in Cyprus.

He also expressed hope that all interested parties will undertake their responsibilities as far as a Cyprus solution is concerned before May 2004.

President Papadopoulos said he had a useful discussion and exchange of views with the Prime Minister on the prospects of Cyprus' accession course and the effort to find a negotiated settlement.

[03] CHRISTOFIAS

Mr. Christofias pointed out however that all facts show that Turkey is unwilling to solve the Cyprus problem beofre December 2004 when it will be decided when it will be granted a date to start accession negotiations with the EU.

Mr. Valkente visited the UN headquarters in Cyprus and the ceasefire line. He departs this afternoon.

[04] OCCUPIED AREAS

According to the Turkish Cypriot newspaper "yeni Duzen", around 300 persons went from Kyrenia to the occupied part of Nicosia and applied for the so called "citizenship. The newspaper said these persons work at a Kyrenia hotel.

[05] IRAQ BOMB

Gunfire rang out in the area after the blast, and journalists were not allowed to enter the compound.

Several bomb and missile attacks have been aimed at "soft targets" in Baghdad over recent weeks.

[06] IRAQ

There was no immediate comment from the U.S. military.

About 400 people gathered outside the Ali al-Bayaa mosque in Baghdad's southwestern Bayaa district, waving banners saying "America = Saddam" and "What is this freedom?"

Local leaders said the U.S. military told them that Sheikh Muayad Khazraji and Abdel Jalil al-Shimli, who also worked in the mosque, were accused of storing arms and calling on Iraqis to oppose the U.S.-led occupation.

Iraqi policemen and U.S. soldiers set up checkpoints around the area and controlled traffic.

[07] IRAQ TURKEY

Turkey has NATO's second biggest army after the United States and would be the first mainly Muslim country to commit troops to Iraq if parliament gives the go-ahead to the mission, which would help relieve pressure on U.S. forces there.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) has a big parliamentary majority but has approached the Iraq issue warily after the assembly rejected plans in March to let U.S. forces cross Turkish territory into northern Iraq.

This time the mood in the AKP appeared confident, despite public opposition to sending the peacekeepers.

Parliament was due to debate the motion in closed session in the afternoon and expected to vote by the evening.

[08] SYRIA ISRAEL

In an interview published with al-Hayat daily newspaper, Mr. Assad said Syria would not yield to U.S. demands to expel Palestinian organisations.

He said the raid is an attempt by the Israeli government to extract itself from its big crisis by trying to terrorise Syria and drag it and the region into other wars.

Israel attacked a site near Damascus yesterday, alleging it was a training camp for Palestinian militants, a day after a suicide attack in Haifa, Israel, killed 19 people. Syria said the raid was on "a civilian location" northwest of the capital.

It was Israel's deepest raid into Syria since the 1973 Middle East war.

[09] USA POLITICS

Polls open at 1400 GMT as Californians decide whether to oust Mr. Davis, famous for his lack of charisma and dedication to fund-raising, then pick from an assortment of 135 replacement candidates, including the actor.

What began as a Republican-led protest vote over Mr. Davis' handling of the state's economy and recent energy crisis has become a referendum on Schwarzenegger, especially his alleged groping and sexual harassment of women.

The Gray Davis' campaign said its new tracking survey of 1,200 likely voters found a 50 percent to 48 percent split between those favoring a "yes" vote on the recall and those planning to vote "no."

That survey was at odds with the latest independent statewide poll, issued on Sunday by Knight Ridder newspapers and an NBC affiliate, which found a 54 to 41 percent spread between recall supporters and opponents - 54 to 41 percent.

But both those polls included sampling from before and after allegations surfaced that Mr. Schwarzenegger groped or sexually harassed some 15 women over the years and once expressed admiration for Hitler.

Mr. Schwarzenegger aide Todd Harris said his candidate remained ahead in his campaign's internal tracking polls but declined to release the numbers or discuss whether recent polling reflected a decline in support.

[10] WEATHER

Temperatures will reach 34 C inland, 33 C on the south coast, 29 on the west and 25 over the mountains.

Tonight the weather will be mainly clear. Winds will be north-westerly to north-easterly light, two to three beaufort and the sea calm to slight. Temperatures will fall to 17 C inland and on the westcoast, 19 over the south and 15 over the mountains.

The fire hazard is very high in all forest areas.

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