Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 98-02-12

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From: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cynews.com/>

Thursday, February 12, 1998

CONTENTS

[01] Edek set to opt for conscience vote

[02] 'The party of terrorism'

[03] Galanos challenges Kyprianou to party elections

[04] Betting on Clerides to win

[05] Should psychiatric patients vote?

[06] Lion bites soldier

[07] More stolen icons found in Munich

[08] Police deny endangering lives in bomb chase

[09] Police witness denies framing Turkish Cypriots

[10] Salvage work to begin on drifting Romantica

[11] Census puts population in the north at 163,000

[12] Meraklis row to be laid to rest

[01] Edek set to opt for conscience vote

A MARATHON meeting of nationwide Edek committees to decide on the party's stand in Sunday's presidential run-off was last night set to run into the early hours of the morning.

Edek vice-president Yiannakis Omirou said just before midnight it was unlikely that a vote on the matter could be taken until later today, as certain Central Committee members had already left the crucial meeting at the Cleopatra Hotel in Nicosia.

But he added things seemed to point to party members being called to vote according to their consciences.

Just down the road at the Hilton, the Central Council of the United Democrats was also meeting into the night, faced with the same choice of whether to support incumbent president Glafcos Clerides, Akel and Diko- backed candidate George Iacovou or to opt for a conscience vote in the second round.

Party leader George Vassiliou argued the case in favour of Clerides, first vice-president Michalis Papapetrou supported voting according to conscience, and second vice-president George Christofides favoured a pro-Iacovou vote.

Vassiliou won 3 per cent in Sunday's first round vote.

The party central council was voting on the issue late last night, but the results were not expected to be made public until a press conference later today.

It was the Edek decision, however, that was the most keenly awaited, with TV stations frequently interrupting their programmes to update viewers on developments at the Cleopatra.

Having secured a surprise 10.6 per cent of votes in the first round of elections, Socialist party Edek leader Vassos Lyssarides has been ardently wooed by both the Iacovou and Clerides camps.

In the first round of voting, a mere 0.5 per cent gave Iacovou a lead over Clerides.

The Edek leader lost no time in laying down conditions for his party's support; chief among his demands was an all-party government, a specific policy dealing with the Cyprus problem and the creation of an expanded national council handling such developments.

Both Iacovou and Clerides accepted these conditions on Tuesday in return for Edek votes, leaving Edek members last night agonising over three possible decisions: supporting one of the two second-round contenders or inviting Edek voters to follow their consciences.

Earlier in the day, Akel chief Dimitris Christofias had sent Lyssarides a four-page letter in a last plea for Edek to back Iacovou outright.

Offering the Foreign Ministry as well as another unspecified ministry to Edek, Christofias stressed the importance of Edek-Akel co-operation to lead the country into a new era.

He also said Clerides' acceptance of Edek conditions would come to nothing, given that the Disy candidate had often acted against Edek principles during his five year presidency.

[02] 'The party of terrorism'

DIKO washed its dirty linen in public yesterday, as all-out war broke out after rebels' decision to back Glafcos Clerides in Sunday's run-off election.

There were charges and counter-charges, with the two camps accusing each other of acting out of self-interest.

Alexis Galanos, who polled 4 per cent in the first round, and Diko vice president Dinos Michaelides voiced support of Clerides on Tuesday. They said a vote for the incumbent best served the interests of Cyprus and of Diko and urged party faithful to join them.

Official Diko hit back. It said the two had confirmed what the party had been saying all along - that Galanos' candidacy was a vehicle to transfer Diko votes to Clerides.

The row moved on to the airwaves. Galanos and Michaelides yesterday went on the attack, criticising the party leadership, particularly its president Spyros Kyprianou, for running the party as a personal fiefdom. Hints were dropped that Kyprianou was laying the ground for his son Markos.

"This is not the Democratic party, it is a party of terrorism," Galanos said. Kyprianou took decisions on his own, in order only to serve his own interests, he claimed.

And Kyprianou's proposal to Vassos Lyssarides for Diko and Edek to join to form a social democratic party to be chaired by Lyssarides failed to convince.

"Mr Kyprianou rejected this proposal when it was made a few months ago, now he is making it himself. It is tactics and fails to convince. I am sure Mr Lyssarides recognises this," Galanos said.

On his decision first to run, then to back Clerides, Galanos insisted this allowed Diko to maintain its role as a power broker. Those Diko officials who went on the air to slam his action were just angry about the possibility of losing a ministerial post.

There was a blunt response from Diko deputy Markos Kyprianou. He said critics attacked him for being the son of the party president when they had no other arguments.

The younger Kyprianou said he had no cause to account for his actions - he was re-elected deputy with 30 per cent more preference crosses and had voluntarily left the presidency of the party's youth wing Nedik, even though he could have served another term.

He also went on the attack saying Michaelides and Galanos had their eyes on their own political careers - Michaelides wanted to be minister, Galanos hoped for the party leadership.

Galanos' claims the party was dictatorial were unfounded - the proof was that Diko had never taken any action against Galanos despite his many run- ins with the party leadership, including a leak of a cassettes in 1991 in which Galanos was allegedly rude about Kyprianou.

"Not only was Galanos not disciplined in any way, but he went on to become House president - and I cast the decisive vote," Kyprianou said.

And he said Galanos' claims to have made Diko a power broker were unfounded.

[03] Galanos challenges Kyprianou to party elections

Galanos told reporters he met Diko parliamentary spokesman Tassos Papadopoulos yesterday and discussed party unity. He would not elaborate, other than to say that the meeting was very friendly.

But Galanos said Diko elections should be carried out by an independent election committee and not by Kyprianou and those around him. The Diko leader could be honorary chairman, he added.

In a separate development, leading Diko activist Kypros Chrysostomides yesterday repeated earlier calls for a party conference.

Chrysostomides had mounted an impressive challenge to Dinos Michaelides for the Diko vice presidency and disagreed openly with Kyprianou moves in the run-up to Diko deciding what to do in the presidential elections.

Yesterday he sent a letter to Diko general secretary Stathis Kittis saying the party whisper industry was spreading false rumours about him, while party official were speaking against him at meetings.

"I would like to clarify that my position as regards the party has been impeccable. I repeat I support the grassroots of the party, not the leadership for obvious reasons," he said.

Chrysostomides attached his December 29 statement making clear he would not go against Diko's decisions for the "sake of the grassroots of the party and not the leadership." In the same statement, he called for a party conference to hold elections for a new leadership immediately after the presidential poll.

[04] Betting on Clerides to win

The bet is a personal wager between two men of opposing political convictions.

According to reports, the hefty £15,000 gamble was placed by a supporter of Clerides against someone who believes Iacovou will win the election.

It is understood that villages in the Larnaca and Famagusta districts have caught the election bug and wagers of £1,000 on the final result between friends are said to be common.

Money is even being risked on predicting the percentage figures each will receive.

[05] Should psychiatric patients vote?

The Director of Psychiatric Services, Michalis Onisiforou, has questioned why mentally ill patients were not allowed to exercise their democratic right on Sunday.

He argues that a law passed by the House last Summer permits any individual to vote, except those who have an arrest warrant issued against them.

But according to an Electoral Service announcement, no person can vote who has been judged by a court not to be of "sound mind".

The Service states that these regulations are enforced for every election and it is kept informed of any such orders issued or revoked by the district courts.

It says that charges made by Onisiforou, that the Electoral Service acted illegally by denying psychiatric patients the vote, "do not correspond to the truth".

Onisiforou has requested that the Attorney-general clear the matter up in case psychiatric patients are being denied the right to vote because of a legal misunderstanding.

[06] Lion bites soldier

Police said they suspected the attack on 18-year old soldier Antonis Ignasiou was provoked after he aggravated the lion with a lead pipe.

They said a pipe had been found in the lion's cage shortly after the attack.

Police said Ignasiou claimed he was trying to stroke the lion, "but it went wild".

Ignasiou was bitten and seriously injured on his right forearm. His girlfriend raised the alarm, and he was rushed to Limassol hospital where the bleeding was stopped before he was transferred to Nicosia for surgery. He is said to be in a stable condition.

According to police, the attack happened at 2.45am; Ignasiou and his girlfriend, who has not been named, had sneaked into the zoo by jumping over a fence, despite her apparent pleas not to do so.

Zoo vet Lambros Lambrou said that the animals were still in a state of shock well into the afternoon and that it was impossible for staff to get near their cages.

[07] More stolen icons found in Munich

According to a Cyprus police announcement, the nine icons were found in the home of Greek gallery owner Seraphim Dritsoula.

Police said the icons had been sold to Dritsoula by Turkish art dealer Dikmen Aydin, 60, who was arrested in Munich late last year for dealing in Cypriot icons and mosaics stolen from Greek Orthodox churches in the occupied areas.

As many as 20,000 icons have been removed from churches in the occupied areas, experts believe.

The new find was uncovered in Dritsoula's home. His property on the Greek island of Skiathos was also searched, but nothing more was found, police said.

"The icons were identified as having come from the occupied areas," the police announcement said.

The raid on Aydin's two Munich apartments in October and November last year uncovered 14 boxes containing icons and mosaics. A subsequent search revealed another 15 to 20 boxes.

Aydin has been arrested by German police and faces charges of trading in stolen artifacts, an offence which carries a maximum 15-year sentence.

A consignment of the recovered icons has already been shipped back to Cyprus.

The first breakthrough for the Church and the government came in the 1980s with the confiscation of the four Kanakaria mosaics by the United States.

The mosaics were returned to the island in 1992 after a lengthy court battle against American art dealer Peg Goldberg.

Other success stories include the return of the Archangel Michael in 1995 and the location of the Royal Doors of Peristerona in a Japanese University.

[08] Police deny endangering lives in bomb chase

FOUR men were remanded yesterday in connection with the failed car bomb attack in Limassol on Tuesday night.

Savvas Nikiforou, 23, and George Charalambous, 27, who were arrested at the scene were remanded in custody for eight days by a Limassol court, as were Evripidis Paphitis and 18-year-old Prokopis Serafim, who were arrested following further investigations.

According to police, Nikiforou said he was given the bomb by Paphitis to place underneath a specific vehicle, and received a sum of money to do so.

The court heard Nikiforou admitted to being paid £200 for planting the bomb, and being promised £20,000 once the "job" was done.

Police said Nikiforou did not know the identity of his paymaster but said he was a friend of Paphitis.

Police swooped to prevent the bomb attack when they saw two people acting suspiciously.

They saw Nikiforou and Charalambous approach a car by motorbike and then witnessed the 23-year-old trying to set a device.

When the suspects were spotted, they fled the scene on Omonia avenue, with police firing a number of warning shots while in pursuit.

Police said Nikiforou had thrown the device in a car lot while he was being chased.

In fact, police admitted there was pandemonium during the operation, in which around 14 officers all started firing shots in the air when the suspects tried to escape.

Charalambous tried to escape on a motorbike but was intercepted when he collided with a police car.

Police chief Panicos Hadjiloizou yesterday denied that the police endangered innocent lives during the operation.

[09] Police witness denies framing Turkish Cypriots

TWO TURKISH Cypriots charged with smuggling guns from the north were victims of a police set-up, their lawyer again claimed yesterday.

Ozman Kondoz, 41, and Mustafa Veli, 33, both from occupied Louroudjina, were arrested on the night of October 23 following a police sting operation in the Athienou buffer-zone area.

Kondoz and Veli are on trial before the Nicosia Assizes for attempting to smuggle guns and animals from the north.

Their Lawyer, Youstrel Katri, put it to police witness Yiannakis Ellinas that he had persuaded Kondoz and Veli to smuggle a pistol from the north in order to apprehend them and gain promotion.

Ellinas, while acknowledging he was promoted after the sting, vehemently denied Katri's assertions.

"I did not get promoted for this case. It may have been taken into consideration but I got promoted for dozens of drug busts, dozens of bomb attacks I thwarted and many cases of averting smuggling from the north," Ellinas said.

He also denied Katri's claim that he had given the suspects a crate of brandy and two Michelin tires for a Volkswagen in an effort to induce them to smuggle guns.

In his statement, Ellinas detailed how Kondoz and Veli were caught in a police sting after allegedly handing him a pistol and bullets.

Ellinas said he had been posing as a crooked millionaire buyer for guns and weapons at the time. The sting was planned after Dhali villager Andreas Maltezos informed police that Kondoz and Veli had approached him in Pyla seeking a buyer for 30 pistols, 2 Kalashnikovs, one G3 automatic, three shot-guns and a million pound's worth of fake £10 notes from Turkey, Ellinas confirmed.

Under cross-examination by Katri, Ellinas admitted Maltezos had himself been involved in smuggling animals from the occupied areas in the past.

The trial continues. Kondoz and Veli deny the charges.

[10] Salvage work to begin on drifting Romantica

WORK begins today to salvage the gutted cruise ship Romantica which drifted away from Limassol port after its anchors snapped this week.

Around 700 passengers and crew were evacuated without injury from the Romantica in October last year when fire broke out in the vessel's engine room on a return cruise from Egypt.

The 49-year-old cruise vessel has been anchored off Limassol for the past four months awaiting salvage, but early this week her anchors broke and she drifted off and ran aground near Lady's Mile Beach.

The burnt out ship must now be moved back to Limassol port after which it will be sold abroad for scrap.

Fears that the Romantica could pollute the seas off Lady's Mile, which is in British bases territory, were dismissed yesterday.

A spokesman for the Cyprus Marine Environmental Protection Association (CYMEPA) said that as far as he was aware there was no danger of pollution from the Romantica.

A British bases spokesman said they were also "led to believe" the cruise ship was free of fuel and not a danger to the marine environment.

"The SBA has given its permission to the owner and the salvage company to begin the salvage operation," the bases spokesman said. He added they expected work to start today, but denied reports that SBA authorities would be involved in the salvage operation.

[11] Census puts population in the north at 163,000

This estimate is almost 40,000 lower than that of the first ever census in the north - conducted late last year - which put the population at 200,587.

Neither census included the 35,000 Turkish troops stationed on the island.

Sunday's count was carried out by the 'Supreme Election Council' ahead of local elections in the north on June 28. The council reportedly stated that 117,430 people would be eligible to vote come June.

The government estimates that Turkey has brought in at least 100,000 settlers since the 1974 invasion.

The government also believes the number of Turkish Cypriots in the occupied areas has been reduced drastically since 1974. Before 1974, Turkish Cypriots made up 18 per cent of the island's population, numbering about 120,000. But the government estimates that only 80,000 now live in the north.

[12] Meraklis row to be laid to rest

According to reports, Archimandrite Neophytos Matsouras meets all the Church's criteria for the position.

His appointment would put to rest the 1996 row over the proposed election of Archimandrite Pancratios Meraklis, which almost split the Church and its flock.

Meraklis was not the Archbishopric's ideal candidate for the position, and a ferocious row erupted when the faithful accused the Church of interfering in their free election process.

Morphou residents and friends came out in force and stormed the Archbishopric in Nicosia to register their protest.

A truce was eventually called and the elections postponed.

A member of the former support group for Meraklis said yesterday it was never a matter of who was or was not suitable for the job, but of the Church interfering in the free elections of the people.

"The outcome will be decided by fair elections and with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit," he said.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1998

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