Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 04-09-10

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

CONTENTS

[01] HEADLINES

[02] SECURITY-INDONESIA

[03] AFGHAN-TALIBAN

[04] MIDEAST

[05] FISCHLER CYPRUS

[06] GRAPES SUSPEND

[07] EU-TURKEY-FISCHLER

[08] EU-TURKEY-FISCHLER

[09] EU TC MONEY

[10] PARAOLYMPICS LIGHT

[11] WEATHER FRIDAY 10 SEPTEMBER 2004

[01] HEADLINES

--Agriculture Commissioner, Franz Fischler, who is on an official visit to Cyprus, stressed the need for Cyprus to modernise the agricultural sector as grape producers suspended measures until Monday, to allow the government time to meet their demands.

-- Mr. Fischler also questioned Turkey's suitability for EU membership in the latest note of dissent in the European Union's executive.

And

-- The countdown to the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic Games on 17 September began last night with the igniting of the Paralympic flame at the Temple of Hephaestus.

[02] SECURITY-INDONESIA

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told a news conference in Jakarta the warning to release Abu Bakar Bashir, the accused spiritual leader of an al Qaeda-linked militant group, was conveyed in a phone text message to an elite police unit.

He said they received an SMS message about 45 minutes before the attack yesterday that there would be an attack on Western embassies unless Abu Bakar Bashir was released.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty told the news conference it would have been difficult to act on the text warning since such threats came in regularly.

Bashir, 66, is in police detention awaiting formal charges over accusations of involvement in terror acts. He has denied any wrongdoing or links to Jemaah Islamiah, a shadowy Southeast Asian Islamic organisation seen as the regional arm of al Qaeda.

Indonesian police have already blamed Jemaah Islamiah for the attack on the Australian embassy, which killed nine people and wounded 182. Most of the victims were Indonesian.

The attack came days before Indonesia's presidential run-off, two days before the third anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States and a month before Australia's general election.

Jemaah Islamiah appeared to admit responsibility for the attack in an Internet statement that could not immediately be authenticated. The statement warned of more attacks unless Australia withdrew its forces from Iraq.

[03] AFGHAN-TALIBAN

Although the four rockets fell well short or wide of their target, Mullah Dadullah Akhund -- the Taliban's military commander and a member of its 10-member ruling council -- said U.S.-led forces in the country were pinned down in their bases.

He was speaking a day after the Arabic satellite TV channel al Jazeera broadcast a video of Osama bin Laden's Egyptian-born deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, claiming that mujahideen fighters had U.S. forces pinned down in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"The enemy are limited to their capitals," al-Zawahri said in the tape, broadcast two days before the third anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. Washington blamed al Qaeda and sent troops to Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban.

Two adults and a child were slightly wounded in the attack, which Kabul's police chief said was an attempt to disrupt Afghanistan's first direct presidential elections on Oct. 9.

The Taliban also claimed that they had killed five soldiers and captured three in an attack near Tarin Kot, southwest of the capital in Uruzgan province.

[04] MIDEAST

The air strike came on the third day of a large Israeli incursion into the northern Gaza Strip, an operation the army said was aimed at stopping militants from firing makeshift rockets into southern Israel.

It followed a night of gunbattles in Jabalya, a militant stronghold, as Israeli troops held positions just inside the camp.

Israeli forces have killed three militants and three civilians and wounded more than 70 people since the raid began on Wednesday when a tank force seized parts of the northern Gaza Strip.

[05] FISCHLER CYPRUS

Speaking before the House Agriculture Committee, Mr. Fischler spoke about the need to reshape not only the grape producing sector which is facing long term problems, but the whole sector.

He explained that every year that goes by without any drasting measures being taken, constitutes lost time for farmers and stressed the need for actions to be based on the long term benefits of the sector and not short term.

Mr. Fischler said the EU does not compensate farmers based on their produce and quantity but on their contribution to society.

[06] GRAPES SUSPEND

At the same time they warned that if there is no positive development, on Wednesday they will rally outside the Presidential Palace.

The decision was taken last night during a meeting of the grape growers' association with agricultural organisations.

[07] EU-TURKEY-FISCHLER

According to the Financial Times today, Mr. Fischler, an Austrian whose Brussels term ends next month, said in a nine-page letter to fellow commissioners that Ankara's commitment to democracy and secularism might not last, and that the cost of admitting Turkey would bust the farm budget.

An aide to Fischler confirmed the contents of the letter, leaked in the same week that outgoing Dutch Commissioner Frits Bolkestein warned that Turkish accession could lead to an Islamisation of Europe.

Like Mr. Bolkestein, Mr. Fischler highlighted Turkey's size and Muslim identity. "

Commission officials and diplomats said the two men were in a minority and there was no doubt the EU executive would recommend next month that Turkey had made sufficient progress on the bloc's criteria for democracy, human rights and the rule of law to justify opening entry negotiations next year.

The 25 EU leaders are due to make the decision in December by unanimity, based on the Commission's report.

[08] EU-TURKEY-FISCHLER

According to the Financial Times today, Mr. Fischler, an Austrian whose Brussels term ends next month, said in a nine-page letter to fellow commissioners that Ankara's commitment to democracy and secularism might not last, and that the cost of admitting Turkey would bust the farm budget.

An aide to Fischler confirmed the contents of the letter, leaked in the same week that outgoing Dutch Commissioner Frits Bolkestein warned that Turkish accession could lead to an Islamisation of Europe.

Like Mr. Bolkestein, Mr. Fischler highlighted Turkey's size and Muslim identity. "

Commission officials and diplomats said the two men were in a minority and there was no doubt the EU executive would recommend next month that Turkey had made sufficient progress on the bloc's criteria for democracy, human rights and the rule of law to justify opening entry negotiations next year.

The 25 EU leaders are due to make the decision in December by unanimity, based on the Commission's report.

[09] EU TC MONEY

Following the development, the regulation will be examined in October and not this month.

[10] PARAOLYMPICS LIGHT

In a simple ceremony, the flame was ignited within the temple with a spark struck from an anvil with an iron bar.

Among those present at the Lighting Ceremony were the President of the Hellenic Republic, Konstantinos Stephanopoulos, the Greek Prime Minister, Kostas Karamanlis, the Leader of the PASOK Party, George Papandreou, the President of the International Paralympic Committee, Phil Craven, the President of the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, Greek ministers, MPs, and local authority officials, and Paralympic and Olympic victors.

A total of 4,000 athletes, representing 145 countries in 19 sports, will participate in the ATHENS 2004 Paralympic Games. The Paralympic Games are going to take place from 17th to 28th September 2004. It is a top-level sports event of equal value to that of the Olympic Games and which for the first time in its history the athletes will not be asked to give any financial sum for their participation.

During the Paralympic Games, Athens will offer hospitality to 3,000 press officials, 1,000 technical officials and judges, 2,000 team escorts and 2,500 official guests.

[11] WEATHER

Tonight the weather will be mainly clear with some thin mist over the coasts. Winds will be north-westerly to north-easterly light, two to three beaufort and the sea slight. Temperatures will fal to 17 C inland, on the south and east coast, to 19 over the west and nine over the mountains.

The fire hazard remains extremely high in all forest areas.

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