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

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

CONTENTS

[01] HEADLINES

[02] SUPREME MUSTAFA

[03] HELICOPTER OK

[04] CY MORE

[05] IRAQ DEV

[06] BRITAIN HOSTAGE

[07] POLAND IRAQ

[08] BIRDFLU GIRL

[09] MIDEAST

[10] JAPAN USA

[11] WEATHER MONDAY 4 OCTOBER 2004

[01] HEADLINES

-- A helicopter belonging to a private company, made an emergency landing today in Paphos district after reporting a mechanical problem but no injuries were reported.

-- Two bomb blasts shook separate areas of central Baghdad today, killing at least 10 people and wounding 70, while U.S. and Iraqi forces pursued their offensive against rebel strongholds elsewhere in the country.

And

-- Asia's bird flu epidemic, which experts fear could spawn a human pandemic, has claimed its 31st victim, a nine-year-old Thai girl who had contact with infected chickens at home.

[02] SUPREME MUSTAFA

The suspension was requested until the appeals which the Greek Cypriots that reside in Ari Mustafa's house have lodged against the decision, are examined.

Ari Mustafa had returned to the Turkish occupied north after the 1974 invasion but in the last years returned to the free areas where he is living in rented accomodations. All Turkish Cypriot properties are under the Ministry of Interior Guardianship. Mainly Greek Cypriot refugees live in these houses.

On Friday, Mr. Mustafa will appear before the court to say whether he objects to the suspension of the decision.

[03] HELICOPTER OK

Reports said the helicopter was forced to land soon after taking off to tour tourists around the Polis Chrysohous area.

The five persons on board got out unhurt but the helicopter suffered extensive damage.

[04] CY MORE

A CY board official said already 45 persons have left the company and have not been replaced.

The Cyprus Airways board appeared this morning before the House Finance Committee which asked to be informed on the situation.

Yesterday, Communications and Works Minister Haris Thrasou said the Cyprus Airways Board will have to inform the soonest the staff it intends to dismiss from the company.

[05] IRAQ DEV

In the first attack in Baghdad, a car bomb blew up near one of the entrances to the heavily fortified Green Zone, and close to an Iraqi National Guard recruitment post, killing at least 10 people and wounding 70, doctors and witnesses said.

A U.S. military spokesman said no U.S. troops were wounded in the attack, but had no further information.

A second bomb, about 30 minutes later, shook buildings in the centre of the city and sent thick clouds of black smoke pouring into the air above one of several hotels used by foreign contractors and workers.

Witnesses said the blast occurred as a U.S. military convoy was passing down one of Baghdad's major thoroughfares, in front of the Baghdad Hotel, a building used by U.S. government personnel and contractors.

It was not immediately clear if there were any dead or wounded -- U.S. troops sealed off the area and helicopters patrolled the skies above. However, a source at Iraq's Interior Ministry said he feared there were high casualties.

[06] BRITAIN HOSTAGE

Mr. Bigley, a 62-year-old engineer, was seized 18 days ago with two Americans, both of whom were beheaded by their captors -- the Tawhid and Jihad group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, an ally of al Qaeda.

Paul Bigley told Sky News that he is getting communiques from friends based in Kuwait ... that his brother might possibly be handed over from the political baddies to the regular baddies.

He said he had also heard that those holding his brother would "like to negotiate a financial settlement."

Paul Bigley said his information had originally come from a newspaper in Kuwait, which on Saturday reported that an Iraqi militant group was prepared to enter negotiations for the release of Kenneth Bigley.

The same newspaper accurately predicted the release of two Italian aid workers last week.

A spokesman for Britain's Foreign Office said could give no further information on Mr. Bigley's situation.

[07] POLAND IRAQ

Polish Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski said the deadline to pull out troops -- which now control south-central Iraq -- should coincide with the expiration of a United Nations Security Council resolution at the end of 2005.

Poland commands a multinational force of 8,000 troops, including around 2,500 Polish soldiers. Mr. Szmajdzinski has already said it plans to "significantly" reduce its troops after general elections were held in Iraq early next year.

[08] BIRDFLU GIRL

The girl died last night, soon after being confirmed as having the H5N1 bird flu virus nearly a month after falling ill.

She was the 11th Thai to die of bird flu since the virus swept through much of Asia early this year. It has also killed 20 Vietnamese.

The government, spurred into a frenzy of action by Thailand's first probable human-to-human transmission of the virus last week, is determined no one else will linger untested and untreated for so long.

So far, 85 patients in 22 of Thailand's 76 provinces are waiting for H5N1 test results after being sent to hospital with flu-like symptoms.

[09] MIDEAST

Witnesses and medics said the dead included a senior Hamas field commander.

The early morning raid was launched shortly after Israel's army chief warned that the incursion into Gaza would last "as long as necessary" to halt rocket attacks against Israel.

Fifty-nine Palestinians, at least 38 of them militants, have been killed in fighting since Israel launched the offensive five days ago after two Israeli toddlers were killed in a rocket strike on the Israeli border town of Sderot.

At the United Nations, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged Israel to halt its raids in Gaza, "which have led to the deaths of scores of Palestinians, among them many civilians". He also called on Palestinian leaders to help curtail rocket fire.

[10] JAPAN USA

According to the U.S. military, the planes, based in Alaska, were damaged in the incident, which occurred during training, but flew back over water to the U.S. Air Force's Kadena air base on the island to avoid populated areas, the U.S. military said.

A U.S. Air Force spokeswoman said the cause of accident was being investigated.

The mishap may fuel local resentment of the U.S. presence in Okinawa, which has long felt that it bears an unfair burden of hosting U.S. forces in Japan.

Okinawa, Japan's poorest prefecture, is home to about half of the U.S. military 47,000 personnel in Japan.

[11] WEATHER

Tonight it will be mainly clear with some local thin mist. Winds will be variable, north-westerly to north-easterly light, two to three beaufort and the sea slight. Temperatures will fall to 18 C inland and on the west coast, to 19 over the south and east and 12 over the mountains. The fire hazard remains extremely high in all forest areas.

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