Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 03-10-23

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

CONTENTS

[01] HEADLINES

[02] WESTON CYPRUS

[03] WESTON ATHENS

[04] CYPRUS UN

[05] MACSHANE CYPRUS

[06] KIBRIS CITIZENSHIP

[07] MIDEAST

[08] IRAQ DONORS

[09] BUSH AUSTRALIA

[10] WEATHER TUESDAY 23/10/03

[01] HEADLINES

-- British Minister for Europe Denis MacShane blamed Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash for the deadlock on the Cyprus problem.

-- The occupation regime has openly admitted that since 1974 it has granted 54 thousand so called citizenships of the illegal regime to Turkish settlers.

-- Gunmen executed two Palestinians in public in a West Bank refugee camp today after the men confessed to collaborating with Israeli intelligence

AND

-- Donors from more than 70 countries meet at a two-day conference in Madrid today as the United States presses for contributions to rebuild Iraq

[02] WESTON CYPRUS

The US official declined to make any statements afterwards and referred journalists to the press conference he will give tomorrow. He said he had a good discussion and a good start to his meetings.

Speaking after his meeting with Mr. Weston, Foreign Minister George Iacovou said the American official's contacts give him the opportunity for various interpretations of the Turkish stance.

Referring to the issue of observers to monitor the so called "elections' in december in the occupied areas, Mr. Iacovou said his impression is that no observers have arrived.

[03] WESTON ATHENS

Mr, Weston had meetings in Athens on the Cyprus question with Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou and opposition New Democracy Party Costas Karamanlis.

''All those meetings were very much in the tradition of great cooperation on the Cyprus issue. We exchange views about where we are. I recorded some of the things, which I have learned and experienced in Ankara'', Mr. Weston told to the press, adding that he is very happy ''about the solidity of cooperation we have on the Cyprus issue''.

[04] CYPRUS UN

In a letter, Cyprus' Permanent Representative at the UN, Ambassador Andreas Mavrogiannis stressed that the violations are contrary to internaitonal law and UN resolutions.

In the letter, which was circulated as a UN document, Turkey is urged to stop the violations and respond to its international obligations, respecting Cyprus' sovereingty.

[05] MACSHANE CYPRUS

Speaking before Parliament, Mr. MacShane said that while President Papadopoulos has confirmed his committment for negotiaitons on the basis of the Annan Plan, Mr. Denktash's latest statements lead to the conclusion that he opposes not only the Annan Plan but also the UN Secretary-General's mission of good offices.

[06] KIBRIS CITIZENSHIP

Kibris newspaper quoted the so called "interior" minister of the illegal regime, Mehmet Alpayrak, who said that during the last month six hundred citizenships were granted to Turkish settlers.

[07] MIDEAST

They said members of militant factions waging an uprising for Palestinian independence played a videotape of the confessions to residents of the Tulkarm camp before shooting dead the suspects, aged 21 and 25, in the street.

Palestinians have killed scores of their brethren accused of helping Israeli forces track and kill militants during fighting that erupted in September 2000. The latest cycle of tit-for-tat violence has stalled a U.S.-backed "road map" to peace.

Human rights groups have condemned the vigilante killings.

In the West Bank city of Nablus, medical officials said a 15-year-old activist from the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed group linked to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, died of wounds sustained in a mysterious car explosion on Wednesday night.

Palestinian security officials said the blast, which wounded two other people, may have been caused when a bomb manufactured by militants detonated prematurely.

But the officials did not rule out sabotage by Israeli intelligence. Israeli military sources denied responsibility.

In the West Bank city of Hebron overnight, Israeli forces demolished the home of a gunman from the Islamic militant group Hamas who wounded two Jewish settlers before being shot dead yesterday.

[08] IRAQ DONORS

The first day of the conference will be devoted mainly to setting out Iraq's reconstruction needs, and donor countries will make pledges tomorrow.

Any sum pledged will be dwarfed by the massive debts that face a future Iraqi government.

The United Nations and the World Bank estimate it will take 36 billion dollars to rebuild Iraq but have not said how much needs to be raised in Madrid.

[09] BUSH AUSTRALIA

Wrapping up a six-nation Asian tour, Mr. Bush said the allies who had fought alongside each other in two world wars and Vietnam had a "special responsibility throughout the Pacific" to help keep peace.

"And in the war on terror, once again, we are at each other's side," Mr. Bush said, recalling the nightclub bombings in Bali last October that killed 202 people, many of them Australians.

"America, Australia and other nations acted in Iraq to remove a grave and gathering danger, instead of wishing and waiting while tragedy drew closer," Bush told a joint sitting of parliament in Canberra.

The American president is on a whirlwind visit to Australia to thank conservative Prime Minister John Howard for helping in the U.S.-led war on terror and in Iraq.

[10] WEATHER

Tonight the weather will be mainly clear with cloud while there will be thin mist and low cloud. Winds will be north-westerly to north-easterly light, two to three beaufort and the sea calm to slight. Temperatures will fall to 15 C inland, 17 on the south and east coast, and 16 over the west north and mountains. the fire hazard remains very high in all forest areas.

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