Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 04-08-25

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

CONTENTS

[01] HEADLINES

[02] CRASH RUSSIA

[03] VAN DER MEER FISH

[04] LILLIKAS EREL

[05] OLYMPICS

[06] OLYMPICS

[07] IRAQ

[08] MIDEAST

[09] SAFRICA-THATCHER

[10] WEATHER WEDNESDAY 25 AUGUST 2004

[01] HEADLINES

-- The first north-south trade in Cyprus since the island's entry into the European Union ended in failure when the government of the Republic sent back a Turkish Cypriot truckload of fish because it did not possess any European Commission papers.

--Iraq's most influential Shi'ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, arrived back in Iraq today and was heading for his home in the war-scarred city of Najaf.

And

-- South African police arrested the son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher today on suspicion of involvement in a coup plot in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea.

[02] CRASH RUSSIA

The planes disappeared from air traffic controllers' radar screens within minutes of each other and one, carrying 46 passengers and crew, sent a hijack alarm before crashing near the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don.

President Vladimir Putin ordered the FSB security service to investigate the crashes, which came before Sunday's presidential election in Chechnya where rebel separatists have threatened to disrupt the poll with violence.

"The fact that both planes took off from one airport and disappeared from radars around the same time can show it was a planned action," the Interfax news agency quoted an aviation source as saying.

There were no foreigners on board the planes, which both took off from Moscow's Domodedovo airport.

News agencies quoted security officials saying they could not rule out a terrorist act, while Rostov prosecutors opened a criminal probe into the crash of the Sibir Airlines Tu-154 en route to the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

"A minute before the plane disappeared from the radar screens the interior ministry received a report from an air traffic controller that there had been an attack on the crew," Interfax quoted an Interior Ministry official as saying.

[03] VAN DER MEER FISH

The fish fell foul of EU regulations, which say all animal products are banned from entering the island's government controlled areas, which joined the bloc on May 1.

Adrian van der Meer, the European Commission's representative in Cyprus, said the rejection of the fish by Republic's veterinary authorities was a regrettable necessity.

"Unfortunately the fish had to be sent back," he told Reuters. He added that from a legal point of view the certificate of origin issued was correct because the fish originated in the northern part of Cyprus, but the second clause says that no animal produce is allowed to cross, and we take a zero tolerance on this."

According to the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the fish was sent to the free areas with the reasoning that fish is caught in the same sea in either north or south of Cyprus.

The new regulations, adopted by the European Commission in July, came into effect on Monday and were designed to govern trade between the island's two communities.

They provide for trade across the island's "Green Line", including goods originating in the northern part of Cyprus as part of an EU package to end the so called isolation of Turkish Cypriots.

The Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce argued that, although it was aware the regulations specified that no animal produce was allowed to cross into EU territory from the north, fish should be treated differently.

"The harmonisation of the north's veterinary services and slaughterhouses with EU norms has nothing to do with the health of the fish in the sea. However the authorities in the south interpreted this differently," it said.

[04] LILLIKAS EREL

He said that Mr. Erel attitude is based on political motives and he is following Mehmet Ali Talat's tactics which promote a secessionist policy, aiming at the reopening of the occupied ports.

[05] OLYMPICS

Kariolou ranks 13th out of 34 athletes while Gavriela is 21st out of 26 athletes.

Greece's olympic champion Nicos Kaklamanakis is third and maintains hopes to win another gold.

[06] OLYMPICS

Kariolou ranks 13th out of 34 athletes while Gavriela is 21st out of 26 athletes.

Greece's olympic champion Nicos Kaklamanakis is third and maintains hopes to win another gold.

[07] IRAQ

Ayatollah Sistani crossed into Iraq from Kuwait after returning from London where had been treated for a heart condition for three weeks.

The news of his return came as U.S. and Iraqi forces tightened their grip around Mehdi Army militants loyal to a rebel cleric who have holed up in Najaf's Imam Ali mosque.

The call to march on Najaf by the Shi'ite moderate, who has said little about a crisis that has killed hundreds and undermined the authority of interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, could escalate passions among the majority Shi'ite community.

U.S. tanks fired shells and troops advanced closer to the mosque after U.S. aircraft unleashed their firepower overnight, but a threatened assault on the shrine did not go ahead. Gunfire rocked the area and smoke rose into the sky.

U.S. Army 1st Lieutenant Michael Throckmortan, speaking not far from the mosque, said U.S. and Iraqi forces were trying to isolate the militia in one place before an attack.

Iraqi Defence Minister Hazim al-Shalaan had warned the Mehdi fighters they would be wiped out if they did not leave the mosque by yesterday evening. U.S. and Iraqi officials have said only Iraqi forces would storm the mosque.

[08] MIDEAST

Brigadier-General Tareq Abu Rajab, 58, had been acting as head of the General Intelligence Service since the top commander resigned last month amid unprecedented internal unrest in the Gaza Strip over demands for anti-corruption reform.

There were no immediate clues to the identity of the attackers who opened fire from two cars as Abu Rajab drove to work.

One of Abu Rajab's bodyguards was killed and two others injured. Medics said the commander was in a serious condition and undergoing surgery.

The attack fanned fears of further unrest in Gaza, where chaos has surged ahead of an Israeli plan to withdraw troops and settlers by the end of next year from the territory it has occupied since the 1967 war.

[09] SAFRICA-THATCHER

A spokesman for the FBI-style Scorpions unit said that "the son of a prominent former British politician" had been arrested after a search and seizure operation at a Cape Town residence.

Police sources said the suspect was Mark Thatcher, now a businessman who maintains a home in Cape Town. He was expected to appear in court later today.

[10] WEATHER

Tonight the weather will continue to be clear but there will be local thin mist. Winds will be north-westerly to north-easterly light, two to three beaufort and the sea calm to slight. Temperatures will fall to 21 C inland and on the coasts and 18 over the mountains. The fire hazard remains extremely high in all forest areas.

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