Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 03-07-20

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From: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cyprus-mail.com/>

Sunday, July 20, 2003

CONTENTS

[01] Crossing point at Lefka ‘would be unsafe’

[02] Denktash given reply to his Varosha proposal

[03] £136,000 for accident victim

[04] Suspect ‘tried to swallow cocaine’

[05] Murder suspect remanded again

[06] Collision warning system alerts CY pilot

[07] TC lorries to cross from tomorrow

[01] Crossing point at Lefka ‘would be unsafe’

NO DECISION has been taken on the opening of a new buffer zone crossing point in the Lefka area, the United Nations spokesman said yesterday.

Brian Kelly told the Cyprus News Agency the UN’s main concern was to facilitate safe travel between the divide.

“(The issue) is being examined and discussed but until now no decision has been taken,” Kelly said.

He added, however, that the Lefka area had been ruled unsuitable because of the numerous minefields and the terrain, which is considered unsafe for heavy traffic.

The Turkish Cypriots have asked that Lefka became a new crossing point, and the government said it was awaiting the UN’s response on the issue.

Kelly denied reports that the UN had rejected the opening of Lefka, adding however that the force’s initial reaction was that the specific area did not meet safety standards.

“In some points the road is very narrow and the adjacent minefields do not allow its widening,” he said.

Kelly said UNFICYP was ready to facilitate free movement on the island and was open to any suggestions from both sides.

“If and when there are any proposals or suggestions they are examined within the framework of safety, visibility and other factors,” he said.

Interior Minister Andreas Christou said yesterday that the problems at Lefka were due to the vagueness with which the Turkish Cypriot side approached the minefield issue.

He said the republic had repeatedly suggested other potential locations like Astromeritis, Dherynia and Ledra Street, which the aim of decongesting traffic at the three existing crossing points in Ayios Dhometios, Pergamos and Vryssoules.

With the opening of other access points “we would have responded to the expectations and demands” of Greek and Turkish Cypriots, Christou said.

Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash’s negative reply was the problem, he added.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Sunday, July 20, 2003

[02] Denktash given reply to his Varosha proposal

TURKISH Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash yesterday said he has received President Tassos Papadopoulos’ letter sent via the UN on his proposal to hand back part of Varosha in return for the reopening of Nicosia International Airport.

Denktash did not comment on the content of the letter, which the government has not released, other than to say Papadopoulos had rejected his proposals and that the Greek Cypriot side said that it considered the proposal “complicated and premature”.

The Turkish Cypriot leader said if the proposal had been accepted it could have narrowed the chasm that exists between the two sides.

Denktash made the statements to a group of guests who had arrived in the north to attend today’s military parade marking the 1974 Turkish invasion. The government has advised Greek Cypriots not to cross to the north today.

In a written message to Denktash and the Turkish Cypriots, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan characterised the invasion as a “peaceful” operation, which had helped the Turkish Cypriots to live in safety and security for the past 29 years.

Erdogan’s message said Ankara would continue to support the Turkish Cypriots and that efforts for a solution to the Cyprus problem should take into account that there are two states and two democracies on the island.

The international community is currently attempting to bring the two leaders back to negotiations on the basis of the UN plan for a comprehensive settlement, something Denktash has rejected. A solution must be found by May next year or a divided, rather than a united, Cyprus will enter the European Union.

Reports yesterday suggested that President Papadopoulos would meet UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan in New York in September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Sunday, July 20, 2003

[03] £136,000 for accident victim

A WOMAN who was injured in a traffic accident in 1995, when she was 15, has been awarded £136,000 in compensation, plus interest, by the Nicosia District Court.

The court ruled that the suffering Kalliopi Francescou would endure for the rest of her life as a result of the accident could not be measured by any amount of money. The judge also said the best years of her teenage life had been taken away after she spent years in and out of hospital.

In 1995 Francescou was a passenger on a motorcycle driven by her father when they had an accident involving a car near Peristerona. She suffered multiple injuries.

The court ruled that the entire responsibility for the accident lay with the driver of the car who had driven into oncoming traffic.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Sunday, July 20, 2003

[04] Suspect ‘tried to swallow cocaine’

A 29-year-old man tried to swallow a plastic bag containing cocaine in order to avoid arrest, police said yesterday.

They raided the man’s home and allegedly noticed him trying to swallow an unknown object. Officers managed to prevent him from doing so and discovered that the bag contained 0.5 grams of white powder believed to be cocaine.

They searched the suspect and allegedly found two small latex balls containing one gram of brown powder thought to be heroin.

Police said a further search of the man’s home unearthed half a gram of cannabis and a used syringe.

He was arrested and brought before the court where he was remanded in custody for three days.

The suspect told the court that he was ill and had no one to turn to, adding that he wanted to go for treatment. He said he has been a user for many years but things got worse two years ago when he tried heroin.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Sunday, July 20, 2003

[05] Murder suspect remanded again

THE Limassol District Court yesterday renewed for another six days the remand order of a 43-year-old man held for the alleged murder of a minder of an estate in Phassouri.

Anikitos Panayi, alias Kafkaris, was arrested after being on the run for four days after 63-year-old Savvas Vasilliou was shot dead.

Police told the court they would be ready at the end of the six days to request the suspect’s referral to the criminal court for trial.

Investigators were confident that evidence found at the suspect’s hideout links him to the crime. Among the evidence is the shotgun thought to have been used in the murder.

Police also said they had found part of the money allegedly stolen from the victim.

Vasilliou, the keeper of the Lanitis estate for the past 35 years, had been shot twice - in the head and chest.

His wife told police she allegedly saw the suspect, whom she knew well, standing beside her mortally wounded husband holding a shotgun.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Sunday, July 20, 2003

[06] Collision warning system alerts CY pilot

A POLICE plane patrolling over Larnaca Salt Lake triggered the collision warning system on an incoming Cyprus Airways (CY) flight from Milan two days ago, the airline confirmed yesterday.

CY spokesman Tassos Angelis said there had been no danger of the two aircraft colliding, “although it would have been better if this hadn’t happened”.

“There was never any danger because their routes were not clashing,” Angelis added. However he said the proximity of the police plane did set off the warning system in the CY cockpit.

Reports said the CY pilot also had a visual location on the police plane and radioed its pilot, asking him to take his aircraft out of range of the Airbus’s flight path as it came into land.

“We have full trust in our pilots and in the air traffic controllers at Larnaca,” Angelis said.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Sunday, July 20, 2003

[07] TC lorries to cross from tomorrow

TURKISH Cypriot lorry drivers will be allowed to drive their vehicles to the government-controlled areas and transport goods from tomorrow.

The move is part of a series of measures aimed to support the Turkish Cypriots by promoting internal and possibly external trade of Turkish Cypriot products.

The publication of the law on Friday gave the green light to Turkish Cypriot lorry drivers to cross the divide and secure permits to carry goods from the occupied north.

Reports said day-passes would be issued to the drivers at the checkpoints to drive their vehicle to the inspection centre where they will undergo technical checks on the same day.

If the trucks are found to be roadworthy an application will then be filed for a certificate to carry goods.

The permit will be issued for specific products.

A two-month driving licence will then be issued for a fee of £5 if the transport department decides that drivers are experienced enough to drive trucks.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

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