Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 99-04-22

Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

CONTENTS

[01] HEADLINES

[02] NATO GROUND

[03] TURKEY

[04] WORLD IN BRIEF

[05] SIMITIS ASTORIA

[06] MOSCOW YUGOSLAVIA

[07] YUGOSLAVIA STRIKES

[08] JPC PAPHOS

[01] HEADLINES

--- Russia's envoy on Yugoslavia is likely to fly to Belgrade tomorrow to seek a peaceful solution to the crisis.

--- NATO Supreme Commander General Wesley Clark may seek authorisation to update a study into the possible use of ground troops in Kosovo.

--- European left-wing parties met in Nicosia today, to discuss the Yugoslavia crisis.

AND

--- In the United States, bomb squads combed a school today for explosives left by two teenagers who killed at least 15 people.

[02] NATO GROUND

A US official said today that General Clark may ask to update the plan that originally was looked at for the deployment of ground troops to reflect the facts on the ground.

In its study last year, NATO concluded that a ground operation in Kosovo would require the commitment of hundreds of thousands of troops.

NATO's official stance is that it will stick to the air campaign that it began against Yugoslavia four weeks ago and has no intention of deploying ground troops. But there have been calls in the US Congress and elsewhere for NATO to prepare for the use of ground troops should they be necessary.

[03] TURKEY

However, both parties have ten less seats between them than those required to gain the majority.

Turkish media reported that the Democratic Left Party of Bulent Ecevit would also seek cooperation with the Motherland Party of Mesut Yilmaz.

Meanwhile, Tansu Ciller of the True Path Party today called on Mr Yilmaz to begin procedures to unify the two parties.

So far, there has been no response from Mr Yilmaz.

[04] WORLD IN BRIEF

- - - -

India's political drama neared its climax after the Congress party told the country's president it would need two days to provide pledges of other parties' support for a new government.

- - - -

Hijackers who forced a plane bound for Moscow from the Tajik capital Dushanbe to land in the Russian city of Samara have released all 136 passengers on board.

- - - -

East Timor's warring factions signed a cease-fire to end spiralling violence that has killed dozens in recent weeks as the territory moves towards a July vote on independence.

- - - -

Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji ended his North American visit on a blunt note, rebuking pro-Taiwan independence protesters and warning China has never ruled out force to regain its breakaway province.

- - - -

Colombia's Marxist rebels pressed demands for a crackdown on right-wing death squads as a condition for salvaging the country's faltering peace process.

[05] SIMITIS ASTORIA

Speaking at a meeting of Greeks in Astoria, New York, Mr Simitis said that Greece is determined to protect its interests, and respect its commitments as a member of the European Union and NATO.

Commenting on Turkish aggressiveness, Mr Simitis said that Greece could ward off any attempt against it.

[06] MOSCOW YUGOSLAVIA

Interfax news agency quoted Mr Chernomyrdin himself as saying he planned to make the trip to Belgrade and that his plane had been granted an air corridor to reach the Yugoslav capital.

Officials at his office in Moscow were unable to confirm the plans of Mr Chernomyrdin, who has just returned from talks on the Yugoslav crisis in the Ukrainian capital Kiev.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov confirmed that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan would visit Moscow on April 28-29 to discuss the Kosovo crisis.

Russia, which fiercely opposes NATO military strikes, has offered its services as a go-between to try to settle the conflict.

[07] YUGOSLAVIA STRIKES

Last night, at least one NATO missile slammed into Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's Serbian Socialist Party headquarters in Belgrade, which also houses a television station run by his daughter Marija.

Sources at NATO headquarters in Brussels said that the 19-nation alliance was attempting to bring its four-week-old air campaign closer to those in Belgrade whom it holds responsible for the mass expulsion of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo.

Yugoslavia's news agency Tanjug said that at least 10 people were killed and 16 injured when NATO missiles hit a Croatian Serb refugee camp in Kosovo.

The reported attack on the settlement in Djakovica housing several hundred refugees from the war earlier this decade in Croatia came as NATO warplanes pounded strategic, economic and political targets throughout Yugoslavia for a 28th night.

Tanjug said NATO damaged the last remaining bridge over the river Danube at Novi Sad, Serbia's second city, stopping all road and rail traffic and cutting water supplies to some 40,000 people.

Yugoslav media also reported NATO attacks on a television transmitter and an oil refinery near Novi Sad, an airport in central Serbia and the Kruzik factory in Valjevo.

[08] JPC PAPHOS

They all said, however, that a settlement of the political problem would facilitate Cyprus' membership.

The two chairpersons of the Committee, Tassos Papadopoulos and Mechtild Rothe, explained the official policy of the European Union at a press conference today.

The two-day meeting of the Committee, which was held in Paphos, ended today, with the conclusion that Cyprus' accession course is at a very satisfactory stage.

During today's session, European MP, Demetris Tsatsos, brought up the issue of the enclave persons in the Turkish-occupied areas.

European Parliament Socialist Group leader, Pauline Green, said she would take the matter to Brussels.

Mrs Rothe said that the fact that people are living in undignified conditions is unacceptable, adding that there is information that their living conditions have worsened lately.

Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article