Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 02-10-07

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

CONTENTS

[01] HEADLINES

[02] Mideast

[03] Iraq

[04] Hasikos Iraq

[05] Markides

[06] Ecevit

[07] Denktash

[08] Klosson

[09] Weather MONDAY 7 OCTOBER 2002

[01] HEADLINES

--- Meanwhile, US President George Bush was set today to rally Americans behind a possible war on Iraq, a war that Saddam Hussein said would be aimed at reducing his people to wretched slaves.

--- In Cyprus, Minister of Defence Socratis Hasikos said the government hoped the movement of warplanes at the British Bases did not signal the island being used as a base of operations for an attack against Iraq.

And

--- The United Nations want the two ad hoc technical committees, comprising of experts to deal with specific aspects of the Cyprus problem, to be set up within the week.

[02] Mideast

Hospital officials said all of the 12 dead were civilians and that another 80 people were wounded. They said a child of about 12 was among those killed in the raid in the southern city of Khan Younis when the missile hit a crowd of people who left their homes thinking the raid was over.

The Islamic militant group Hamas vowed today to avenge the killing of 12 Palestinians in an Israeli military raid on an area in the Gaza Strip that Israel said was a Hamas stronghold.

Hamas, one of the militant groups which has spearheaded a two-year-old Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation, said it would launch attacks both inside Israel and in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Witnesses said a hospital that was taking in casualties was peppered with gunfire and two people inside were hurt. Military sources said troops shot towards the hospital after mortar bombs were fired from the area at a nearby Jewish settlement.

The raid further complicated a drive by European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana on behalf of an international "quartet" of peace brokers to coax the sides away from bloodshed. Israel has accused the EU of pro-Palestinian bias.

US Middle East envoy William Burns is due to follow Solana to the region. Washington has sought to calm Middle East violence as it seeks support for a potential strike on Iraq.

The army said the aim of the incursion was to tackle the "terrorist infrastructure" of the militant group Hamas, which has spearheaded a two-year-old Palestinian uprising for independence and carried out a wave of suicide bombings.

It said it launched the raid after Palestinian militants fired a rocket at the Jewish settlement near Khan Younis, causing no casualties.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is already smarting from an embarrassing climbdown after ending a siege of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's headquarters under U.S. pressure, and Washington has called for calm as it prepares for possible military action against Iraq.

[03] Iraq

Bush, calling the Iraqi president a growing menace, scheduled a prime time television address to outline his anti-Saddam case to a nation that has misgivings over the prospect of war.

In Baghdad, Saddam said he had yielded to diplomatic pressure to allow UN arms inspectors back into Iraq to avert war, but the United States had then moved the goalposts.

[04] Hasikos Iraq

He added that the government was not worried over the movement and that the authorities did not know if the United States would eventually attack Iraq and use Cyprus as a base of operations.

In such an event, he said, the government will deal with developments but for the time being the authorities hope the operations are not launched and that Cyprus is not used as a base of operations, even through the British Bases on the island.

Invited to comment on the presence of a US submarine yesterday in Limassol seas, Mr. Hasikos said it was there for refueling purposes.

[05] Markides

The creation of the committees was decided during meetings in New York between UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, President of the Republic Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash.

Mr. Markides told CyBC this morning that each committee would be composed of three members and that the UN chief's Special Adviser on Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, would be present at the meetings.

The Attorney General noted that the work of the committees would not downgrade the talks between President Clerides and Rauf Denktash.

He added that the creation of these ad hoc committees had been planned by the UN before the New York talks.

Mr. Markides stressed that the main message from the New York talks was that the UN would not let a deadlock come about, even if there was a gap between the positions of the two sides.

The UN also believe it is possible to reach a solution by December.

The Attorney General did not rule out the possibility of the UN submitting a solution plan before the Copenhagen European Council in mid December.

[06] Ecevit

Mr. Ecevit said that in order to reach a settlement, certain "realities" must be recognised, adding that these realities did not comply with the wishes of the Greek Cypriots, Greece, Britain and certain European countries to set up a unified state on the island.

The Turkish Premier claimed that the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots could not live together, as they had many differences.

He added that if the Greek Cypriot side and Greece accepted the puppet regime in the Turkish occupied areas, and the European Union had no objections, then the two communities on the island could live in peace.

[07] Denktash

Mr. Denktash was scheduled to be admitted to a Columbia clinic at half past one Cyprus time, and the operation is expected to begin at half past three.

The Cyprus News Agency reported from New York that if all goes well, Mr. Denktash will be out of the intensive care unit in four days and will be discharged in eight to ten days.

[08] Klosson

Mr. Klosson met with Deputy Director General Michalis Stylianou and members of the managing group of the Corporation, and discussed ways of cooperation.

The US Ambassador, accompanied by the Embassy's Press Officer Greg Gill, was taken on a tour of the Corporation, focusing on the newsroom.

This was the first visit of the US Ambassador to a public organisation after his meetings with the political leadership.

Mr. Klosson will make a statement tonight on CyBC's programme "Dialogi", with regard to the Iraqi crisis.

[09] Weather

Winds will be southwesterly, light to moderate, three to four beaufort, over slight to moderate seas.

Temperatures are expected to reach 27 degrees inland and along the coast, and 17 over the mountains.

Tonight will be rainy, mainly along the coast.

Winds will drop to 19 degrees inland and along the west coast, to 20 along the south and east coasts, and to 11 over the mountains.

The fire hazard is extremely high in all forest areas.

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