Cyprus News Agency: News in English (PM), 98-06-09

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From: The Cyprus News Agency at <http://www.cyna.org.cy>

CONTENTS

[01] Keep missiles out of limelight, says spokesman

[02] HIV carrier gets twelve months in jail for unprotected sex

[03] Cyprus EU regional bastion, says Defence Minister

[04] Canadian FM to visit Cyprus

[05] Cyprus Stock Exchange

[06] Cyprus protests destruction of churches

[07] Party leaders criticise US stand

[08] State Department comments on Clinton's report on missing

1430:CYPPRESS:01

[01] Keep missiles out of limelight, says spokesman

Speaking to the press after a National Council meeting, Stylianides said "the very nature of the matter demands that the issue is kept out of the limelight".

Stylianides declined to comment on reports in the Russian press that the S-300 surface-to-air missiles have already been delivered secretly to Cyprus.

Russian daily "Sevodnya" reported that the S-300 have already been deployed on the island and more than 200 Russian specialists were helping to install them.

The National Council, top advisory body to the President on the Cyprus problem, was briefed today by President Glafcos Clerides and Foreign Minister, Ioannis Kasoulides, on the latest developments in the Cyprus question.

CNA MCH/MM/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1435:CYPPRESS:02

[02] HIV carrier gets twelve months in jail for unprotected sex

Andreas Nicolaou, 28, a waiter from Larnaca, received twelve months for each charge, but the two sentences will run concurrently.

Reading out the Court's decision, the judge said the defendant was found guilty of two charges and "in particular of having sexual intercourse with two women in a way that could possibly infect them with the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) virus."

The Court heard that Nicolaou's fiance has contracted from him the Human Immunodeficiency (HIV) virus but she has pardoned him. They had a relation before 1993, when he was tested HIV positive, and to their knowledge they continued to have unprotected sex.

The second woman, a married mother of three, had unprotected sex with the defendant twice, but she was not aware of his disease.

The decision pointed out to the social commitment of an AIDS patient and noted that Nicolaou expressed repentance too late, after the two women had testified behind closed doors.

He was the third person charged with knowingly passing the AIDS virus under a 50-year-old law introduced by the island's then British colonial authorities to combat the spread of cholera and typhoid.

It provides for a maximum potential sentence of two years in prison or a fine of 1,500 Cyprus pounds (one pound is around two US dollars) or both.

Last July, the Famagusta District Court sentenced fisherman Pavlos Georgiou Kremastos to 15 months in jail for negligently passing HIV to his British lover.

In April, Chryssavghi Zarzour, 26, who has full-blown AIDS, received a seven-month imprisonment after she had pleaded guilty before the Court to having unprotected sex with two young men without informing them of her disease.

CNA MAN/AP/GP/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1445:CYPPRESS:03

[03] Cyprus EU regional bastion, says Defence Minister

Omirou was speaking on his departure for Brussels where he will meet tomorrow Western European Alliance (WEU) General Secretary, Jose Cutileiro.

The Defence Minister said the meeting will be held within the framework of a dialogue between the Cyprus Republic and the WEU "so that Cyprus can become an associate partner".

Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides submitted Cyprus' application in March and the recent Rhodes WEU summit decided to open a dialogue with Cyprus.

Omirou described Cyprus' participation in a collective European security system as "necessary", noting this not only benefits the Republic "but the European Union as well".

Replying to questions, he said the National Council, top advisory body to the President on the Cyprus issue, "will study in all seriousness and with every responsibility the unjustified fuss some countries have made over the purchase of the S-300 defensive missile system".

The Defence Minister pointed out the Council would make its decision taking into account the country's national interest.

He refrained from commenting on press reports about the deployment of the Russian-made S-300 missiles, ordered in January 1997, stressing that "the Cyprus Republic should have control over its defensive weapons, including the Russian system".

Omirou said that while in Brussels he will also participate in meetings of the European Socialist Party, during which he will outline the government's positions on the present deadlock in the Cyprus question.

He said he will brief participants on the Turkish side's refusal to participate in peace talks unless Cyprus' application to join the EU is withdrawn and the illegal regime in the areas of the island occupied by Turkish troops since 1974 is recognised.

Omirou belongs to the socialist EDEK party that participates in government.

CNA SS/NG/MA/MM/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1445:CYPPRESS:04

[04] Canadian FM to visit Cyprus

During his visit, the Canadian Minister will be received by President Glafcos Clerides and have a private meeting with his Cypriot counterpart, Ioannis Kasoulides.

Lloyd Axworthy will depart in the afternoon of June 11.

CNA MCH/MM/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1735:CYPPRESS:05

[05] Cyprus Stock Exchange

   CSE General Index                          85.02 (-0.04)

   Traded Value            CYP 951,858

   Sectural Indices

   Banks                   CYP   387,192      98.58 (-0.49)
   Approved Investment
   Companies               CYP    13,852      61.73 ( 0.11)
   Insurance Companies     CYP    63,993      62.94 ( 0.33)
   Manufacturing Companies CYP    80,938      77.30 ( 0.97)
   Tourism Companies       CYP    14,811      68.71 ( 1.34)
   Trading Companies       CYP    30,558      46.63 ( 0.65)
   Other Companies         CYP    77,933      71.77 ( 0.97)

CNA MM/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1915:CYPPRESS:06

[06] Cyprus protests destruction of churches

In a letter addressed to the UN Secretary-General, dated June 3, the Republic's UN Permanent Representative, Sotos Zackheos, refers to two churches that have been converted into mosques and a third that has been turned into a cultural centre.

They are the Church of Panagia Evangelistria, in Gerolakkos village, and the Church of Profitis Zacharias, in Pano Dikomon village, that have been converted into mosques, and the Church of Agios Mamas, also in Gerolakkos, that has been turned into a cultural centre.

It is estimated that about 500 churches in the Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus, some of which dating back to the 12th Century, have been desecrated, completely destroyed or used for other purposes.

Zackheos points out that "the repeated illegal conversions are in violation of the 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and the Declaration of the Principles of International Cultural Cooperation adopted by the UNESCO General Conference."

He adds that these acts are promoted by Turkey within the framework of its expansionist plans against Cyprus and are a further example of Ankara's complete disrespect for other people's cultural heritage and its religious intolerance.

The Cypriot Ambassador underlines that these acts of destruction are systematic and "part of a deliberate plan to obliterate the island's religious, archaeological and historical heritage".

"Although the policy of the Government of Cyprus is to protect and maintain all cultural, historical and religious monuments in Cyprus, this policy is unfortunately not adhered to in the illegally occupied areas controlled by the Turkish troops, where my government has no control," he says.

CNA MA/MM/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

2110:CYPPRESS:07

[07] Party leaders criticise US stand

President of centre-right DIKO and House President Spyros Kyprianou, ruling right-wing DISI leader Nicos Anastasiades and socialist EDEK head Vasos Lyssarides, pointed out that the situation in Cyprus is well-known to the US administration and errors cannot be justified.

They were commenting on a statement by State Department spokesman James Rubin that a reference by US President Bill Clinton to missing persons as "a result of intercommunal violence" was an "editing error".

"Of course we believe that while people on both sides were missing as a result of intercommunal violence, it is equally true, as the report clearly states on page three, that people were missing as a result of intercommunal violence during the 1960s and the 1974 conflict," Rubin said.

He noted "there was an editing error in terms of making sure that the transmittal letter had all the information and conclusions in it that the report itself did have."

In a letter accompanying his bi-monthly report to Congress on Cyprus, the American President referred to the establishment of the fate of an American citizen, of Cypriot origin, missing since the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus.

He also expressed the hope his report will "serve as a catalyst for progress on other cases of Greek and Turkish Cypriot persons missing as a result of intercommunal violence".

Some 1619 persons were listed as missing in the aftermath of the 1974 Turkish invasion.

Kyprianou said the clarifications "do not rectify the reference but constitute a new distorted statement".

He added that "the American government's effort is to avoid saying that Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974 and continues to occupy part of its territory".

"It is well known that the situation in Cyprus is not a result of bicommunal violence, but the consequence of an invasion, occupation and ethnic cleansing," he stressed.

On his part, Anastasiades called on the Americans to be more careful about the expressions they apply. "The facts are well known and they themselves (Americans) have apologized for what has occurred," he added.

He was referring to statements by US Presidential Emissary Richard Holbrooke by which he apologised for his government's stance in the 1960s and early 1970s when Greece was ruled by the military junta, which in 1974 toppled the President of Cyprus, the late Archbishop Makarios III, with a military coup.

Lyssarides said "it should be made clear to the Americans that if they want to have a role (in a Cyprus settlement) they should realise that they cannot ignore international law and UN resolutions, which they themselves have endorsed." He said the Americans have "distorted" the truth.

CNA MA/MM/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

0945:CYPPRESS:08

[08] State Department comments on Clinton's report on missing

In his transmittal letter, last month, accompanying the bi-monthly report to Congress on progress toward a negotiated settlement, Clinton referred to "Greek and Turkish Cypriot persons missing as a result of intercommunal violence."

Responding to a CNA question, Monday, State Department Spokesman, James Rubin, took the opportunity to "clarify any misunderstandings."

"Of course, we believe that while people on both sides were missing as a result of intercommunal violence, it is equally true, as the report clearly states on page three, that people are missing as a result of intercommunal violence during the 1960s and the 1974 conflict," he said.

Rubin said "there was an editing error in terms of making sure that the transmittal letter had all the information and conclusions in it, that the report itself did have."

CNA/DA/AP/MCH/1998

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

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