By Natalia Zinets and Elizabeth Piper

 Ukraine won a $27-billion international financial lifeline on Thursday, rushed through in the wake of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, while Moscow’s economy minister acknowledged that his country’s growth would slow dramatically as funds flee abroad.

The International Monetary Fund announced a $14-18 billion standby credit for Kiev in return for tough economic reforms that will unlock further aid from the European Union, the United States and other lenders over two years, effectively pulling Kiev closer to Europe.

Raising the political temperature, former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, released from jail last month after her arch-rival Viktor Yanukovich fled from power in Kiev, announced she would run again for president in an election on May 25.

The declaration by the flamboyant Tymoshenko, 53, set up a contest with boxer-turned-politician Vitaly Klitschko, who has also announced his candidacy, and other figures who have emerged to contend for top posts after four months of political turmoil.

Tymoshenko, who appeared without the blond peasant hair braid that has been her trademark for years, pledged to fight “lawlessness” and said she hoped to recover Crimea. But she remains behind her two rivals in opinion polls.

The IMF deal was a boost for the pro-Western government that replaced the Russian-backed Yanukovich last month, prompting Moscow to seize the Black Sea peninsula.

“The financial support from the broader international community that the programme will unlock amounts to $27 billion over the next two years,” an IMF statement said.

The IMF said it did not see a need to restructure Ukraine’s debts for now.

President Barack Obama said the IMF agreement was a major step forward that would help stabiliseUkraine’s economy.

China, which failed to back its ally Russia in a vote on Crimea at the United Nations this month, said it would play a “constructive role” on financial aid for Ukraine, but stopped short of saying whether it would participate directly.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said it could pump up to a billion euros a year into Ukraine over the next few years.

EAST-WEST CONFRONTATION

The Ukraine crisis has triggered the most serious East-West confrontation since the end of the Cold War a quarter of a century ago, deepening the slump in Ukraine’s economy, centred on coal and steel production, gas transit and grain exports.

Without IMF-mandated austerity measures, the economy could contract by up to 10 percent this year, Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk told parliament, explaining why his government had bowed to the Fund’s conditions.

“Ukraine is on the edge of economic and financial bankruptcy,” he said.

Kiev opened the way for the IMF deal by announcing on Wednesday a radical 50-percent hike in the price of domestic gas from May 1 and promising to phase out remaining energy subsidies by 2016, an unpopular step Yanukovich had refused to take.

The prime minister, who took on the job a month ago saying his government was on a “kamikaze” mission to take painful decisions, said the price of Russian gas on which the nation depends may rise 79 percent – a recipe for popular discontent.

The IMF statement said a key element of the programme would focus on cleaning up Ukraine’s opaque energy giant Naftogaz, which imports gas from Russia’s Gazprom. Naftogaz’s chief executive was arrested last week in a corruption probe.

The IMF also wants the national currency, the hryvnia, to float more freely against the dollar, and a more stringent fiscal policy.

UKRAINE AIDED, RUSSIA ISOLATED

The international rescue for Ukraine was in sharp contrast to Western measures to isolate Russiadiplomatically and charge it an economic price for the annexation of Crimea, home to Moscow’s Black Sea fleet and an ethnic Russian majority.

Targeted US and EU visa bans and asset freezes against senior Russian and Crimean officials, with the threat of tougher economic sanctions to come if President Vladimir Putin goes any further, have accelerated capital flight.

Russian Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said on Thursday capital outflow could be around $100 billion this year, and would slow economic growth to well below earlier forecasts 2.5 per cent this year.

“If we assume in the first quarter capital outflow was $60 billion … then (it) will reach around $100 billion for the whole year,” Ulyukayev told an investment conference.

“Under this scenario, we estimate that economic growth will slow down to 0.6 per cent.”

The World Bank gave a gloomier forecast, saying that in a high-risk scenario of persistent tension over Ukraine, Russia’s economy could shrink by up to 1.8 per cent, even without Western trade sanctions.

Ukraine’s dollar bonds jumped on news of the IMF bailout and the cost of insuring its debt against default fell sharply. Russian stocks fell 1.5 per cent on economic pessimism there.

In a sign of growing concern about the impact of potential sanctions, the head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, said nuclear industry contracts with other countries could be affected by Western measures.

After Visa and MasterCard placed restrictions on Russian banks last week, Putin said on Thursday thatRussia would develop its own credit card system to reduce reliance on Western companies and soften the potential blow from sanctions.

“We certainly must do this, and we will do it,” Putin told Russian lawmakers.

The two credit card firms last week stopped providing services for payment transactions for clients at Bank Rossiya, which is currently under US sanctions.

By Constantinos Psillides

POLICE Chief Michalis Papageorgiou was given the sack on Thursday in the wake of a violent protest by far-right ELAM at an event being attended by former Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat in Limassol.

President Nicos Anastasaides, in a written statement read out by Government Spokesman Christos Stylianides expressed his “sorrow and abhorrence for all the deplorable and unacceptable acts that took place” during the event jointly organised by the Technological University of Cyprus, the Office of the European Commission in Cyprus and Europe Direct, and at which Talat was a speaker.

Around 100 members ELAM disrupted the event, shouting slogans and holding Greek flags outside the Panos Solomonides municipal cultural centre just before the event was scheduled to start at 7pm.

They managed to enter the lobby and hurled a flare inside the hall. A Turkish Cypriot journalist who tried to take photos was slightly injured when scuffles broke out with police whose presence at the event was inadequate.

It was reported that although the Limassol police knew that ELAM would protest at the event, only six police officers were present.  Papageorgiou admitted that when the tip about ELAM came in he was asleep and was informed about the incident after it took place.

“The deputy chief was notified about possible ELAM presence at the event. The information was evaluated and based on that the police decided how many police officers would be there. After the events I was briefed and I exchanged a number of phone calls with everyone involved, including Justice Minister Ionas Nicolaou. My phone is available to anyone who wants to check my incoming and outgoing calls,” he said earlier yesterday.

However in his statement, Anastasiades clearly laid the blame on Papageorgiou for not taking adequate precautions and wasted no time in sending a letter to police headquarters giving him the sack.  In the letter, Anastasiades referred to a host of acts and omissions on the part of the police leadership that led to the events in Limassol.

Anastasiades said that taking into consideration “a series of other actions and omissions by the chief of police” he had decided to fire him. He referred to the chief’s lack respect for decisions of the institutions of the Republic, including decisions of the courts and the Ombudsman’s recommendations and accused Papageorgiou of performing his duties inadequately “in relation to the clampdown on serious crime and the promotion of real security of citizens.”

Later in the day at a lengthy news conference, Papageorgiou said: “They wanted to get rid of me since before the elections, as far back as February 2013. They were just looking for the right opportunity”.

Papageorgiou is being replaced immediately by Chief Superintendent Zacharias Chrysostomou, who was Director of the Police Academy.

Anastasiades, who called Talat on Wednesday night to apologise,  has asked for an immediate investigation to bring the culprits to justice.

A man and a woman were arrested later on Wednesday night – after but not during the protest. They were charged in writing and released. Thursday afternoon warrants were issued for two more people, one of whom was arrested last night. More warrants were on the way, Limassol police said.

“I want to make clear that the state will not accept any form of fascist behavior, from whatever quarter, particularly  an overwhelmingly small minority group that declares itself as the alleged protectors of the Greeks of Cyprus,” said the president’s statement.

“Actions which are not confined within the right of the freedom of speech but extend to acts of violence and give rise to a fascist attitude under the pretext of patriotism, are not only condemnable but are also damaging to the security and the best interests of Cypriot Hellenism.”

The president also ordered an investigation into claims by Turkish Cypriot reporters that they were assaulted and had their camera stolen from them.

“I want to reiterate to all the people of Cyprus and more specifically to our Turkish Cypriot compatriots that the main concern of the Government and all political forces is to achieve conditions of peaceful coexistence between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots as part of a solution which will ensure full human rights and democratic functions of a full member state of the European Union,” Anastasiades said.

Exiting the conference room on Wednesday night, Talat said that what happened at the event was contrary to any attempt at creating a culture of peace for a viable solution of the Cyprus problem. “Our goal should be to isolate these extremist activities. Fanaticism exists in all levels and should be dealt with. We must succeed at this because if we let them win then solving the Cyprus problem will be an unattainable goal,” he said.

Some Greek Cypriots who spoke at the conference also apologised to the Turkish Cypriots. After the conference, the 35-member Turkish Cypriot group, which participated in the event, returned to Nicosia escorted by MMAD officers.

Present at the event was also US ambassador John Koening, who tweeted afterwards: “Real story happened inside the hall. Cypriots talking about the future. Extremists couldn’t block dialogue.”

ELAM’s spokesman Geadis Geadi said that the protest was symbolic and that as long as there was occupation, refugees and missing persons in Cyprus “we will be against them”.

In an official statement on their webpage, ELAM denied that any violence took place, claiming that it was “all in the mind of people, who in their attempt to hurt our movement resort to propaganda tactics”.

ELAM also claimed that their issue was with Talat, who they say was once a member of theTurlish Cypriot paramilitary organisation TMT.

By Steve Keating
A tireless Kei Nishikori shocked 17-time grand slam winner Roger Federer 3-6 7-5 6-4 to claim his second top five scalp in two days and reach the semi-finals of the Sony Open.
After knocking off fourth seeded Spaniard David Ferrer in a three-hour marathon in the previous round, the 21st ranked Japanese was forced to go the distance again, surviving a two-hour centre court battle with Federer.

Nishikori has been one of Federer’s few bogeymen, having now gotten the better of the Swiss maestro in two of their three career meetings.
“To beat Roger, and it’s second time to beat him… I thought I really played well, especially in the third,” Nishikori told reporters. “I was hitting both deep and striking well. Everything was going well.
“There was couple of tough moments, but I was fighting through and happy to win today.”

Arriving in south Florida riding the momentum from a finals appearance at Indian Wells, Federer had been in superb form, cruising into the Miami quarter-finals without dropping a set, highlighted by 49 minute fourth round win over Richard Gasquet.

A two-time Miami champion, Federer convincingly won the opening set and looked ready for an easy night when he twice went up a break in the second.
But each time, the feisty Nishikori would immediately answer back then broke Federer again at 6-5 to level the match.

With the third set heading towards a tie-break it was Federer who blinked while serving to stay in the match at 5-4, slamming an easy forehand into the net and then sending a return long to hand Nishikori triple match point.
Federer would survive the first two but could not save the third, Nishikori whipping a forehand winner off the return to seal the upset.

“I just couldn’t find my rhythm on the serve today,” Federer said. “It was surprising especially after how well I have served and played this week.
“I had the set and a break and up a break again so it is a little frustrating.
“He was more consistent in the second and third so all credit to him.”
The victory setup a semi-final meeting against world number two Novak Djokovic, who ended Andy Murray’s reign as Miami champion by easing past the sixth seeded Briton 7-5 6-3.

For Djokovic, the victory over Murray was a small measure of revenge as the met for the first time since the Scotsman beat him in last year’s Wimbledon final.
Murray, playing his first event since splitting with coach Ivan Lendl last week, had looked increasingly comfortable and confident on his own but Djokovic kept the Scotsman under almost constant pressure in blustery conditions.

“I was not surprised about the way he played,” said Djokovic, whose coach Boris Becker was also not in Miami as he is taking time off to undergo double hip surgery. “I expected him to play well, to be a little bit more aggressive.
“I tried to not allow him to be in the comfort zone because when he strikes the zone, when he feels comfortable on the court, he’s striking the ball so well, maybe best in the world.”

In dramatic contrast to the women’s semi between Dominika Cibulkova and Agnieszka Radwanska that ended moments earlier on centre court and featured 19 breaks of serve, breaks were hard to come by for Djokovic and Murray in a tight opening set.

Murray had only a single break opportunity against the Serb while Djokovic was able to convert one of his three chances, with the help of a controversial point.
The first set ended in an argument between Murray and the chair umpire, the Scotsman furious that Djokovic was given a point to open the decisive game even though it was clear the Serb reached across the net to hit the ball.

A distracted Murray then lost the next three points on unforced errors as Djokovic claimed the break and set.
“I wasn’t sure, from where I was standing, it was a very hard thing to see,” Murray said. “I knew it was close. So that’s why I went and asked Novak and he told me he was over the net. That was it.

“The chair umpire said, ‘yes, he was over the net but he was in line with the net,’ so I didn’t really understand.
“It maybe had a slight bearing on that game but I was still up a break in the second set.”

By Amlan Chakraborty
Alex Hales became the first Englishman to score a Twenty20 International century as the 2010 champions kept alive their World Cup semi-final hopes with a dramatic six-wicket win over Sri Lanka on Thursday.

Hales lashed six sixes in his unbeaten 116 off 64 balls, the final one vanishing over mid-wicket in the last over to complete England’s highest-ever run chase with four balls to spare after being set a huge target of 190 in the Group One Super 10 clash.

“Centuries in this format do not come along very often. A couple of times in the 90s, I’m very pleased to go over the line today,” Hales, who shared the record for England’s previous highest T20 score of 99 with Luke Wright, said at the presentation ceremony.

England captain Stuart Broad was full of praise for his team mate.
“On the biggest stage in a World Cup, in conditions a little bit foreign to us, it’s one of the best knocks I’ve ever seen,” Broad said.

Put into bat at Chittagong’s Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Sri Lanka lost opener Kusal Perera in the second over but Mahela Jayawardene (89) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (55) cashed in on some dreadful England fielding to lift their team to 189 for four.

England made a woeful start to their reply, slumping to nought for two after paceman Nuwan Kulasekara removed Michael Lumb and Moeen Ali for ducks in the first over.
But Hales and Eoin Morgan (57) shared a dazzling 152-run stand for the third wicket in 15.2 overs, dragging England back into the match with ferocious hitting and Ravi Bopara joined Hales to see them through to their target.

Earlier, Jayawardene was on nought when he was lucky to be given not out by TV umpire Steve Davis after Lumb seemed to take a good diving catch at cover.
Jade Dernbach spilled a catch offered by Jayawardene on 19 and Tim Bresnan dropped Dilshan as the Sri Lankan pair forged a 145-run partnership for the second wicket.
Bresnan gave Jayawardene another life when he put down a straightforward catch on the boundary in the 15th over and Bopara dropped Thisara Perera in the final over.

Broad was happy to have bounced back from Saturday’s defeat by New Zealand in a rain-ruined match but admitted catching had emerged as a major problem area for his team.
“You never look for excuses at the end of the day. We really messed up, dropping five or six catches.

“The ball was not going in the hand very well, it was really slippery, something we are not particularly used to. So it’s something that we’ll bear in mind for our next game (against South Africa on Saturday).
“We can’t afford to drop key players like that. We got away today with an unbelievable knock from one of our guys. We have to raise our standard with catching from the next game.”

By Nick Tattersall

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday denounced as “villainous” the leaking of a recording of top security officials discussing possible military action in Syriato the video-sharing site YouTube.

Turkish authorities ordered a shutdown of the site.

Erdogan’s foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu called the posting, an audio file with photographs of the officials involved, a “declaration of war” – an apparent reference to an escalating power struggle between Erdogan and rivals.

The anonymous posting followed similar releases on social media in recent weeks that Erdogan has cast as a plot by his political enemies, particularly a Turkish Islamic cleric based in the United States, to unseat him ahead of March 30 elections.

But it took the campaign to a higher level, impinging on a highly sensitive top-level meeting of security officials.

“They even leaked a national security meeting,” Erdogan said at a campaign rally. “This is villainous, this is dishonesty … Who are you serving by doing audio surveillance of such an important meeting?”

Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the recording.

The account posted what it presented as a recording of intelligence chief Hakan Fidan discussing possible military operations in Syria with Davutoglu, Deputy Chief of military Staff Yasar Guler and other top officials.

Speaking to reporters in Kutahya, Davutoglu confirmed the meeting took place and said: “A cyber attack has been carried out against the Turkish Republic, our state and our valued nation. This is a clear declaration of war against the Turkish state and our nation.”

Turkish authorities said they had taken an “administrative measure” to impose a block on YouTube, a week after they blocked access to microblogging site Twitter.

Erdogan has been the target of a stream of anonymous internet postings suggesting his involvement in corruption. He denies the allegations and accuses a former ally, Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, of unleashing a campaign to undermine him ahead of Sunday’s elections.

Gulen, who has a large network of followers in the police, denies any involvement in the postings and in police graft investigations impinging on Erdogan and his family. Erdogan denies graft allegations.

The foreign ministry said the recording was of a crisis management meeting to discuss threats stemming from clashes in Syria and that elements of the recording had been manipulated. The leakers would face heavy punishment, it said.

“It is a wretched attack, an act of espionage and a very heavy crime to record and leak to the public a top secret meeting held in a place where the most delicate security issues of the state are discussed,” it said in a statement.

The conversation appears to centre on a possible operation to secure the tomb of Suleyman Shah, grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman Empire, in an area of northern Syria largely controlled by militant Islamists.

Ankara regards the tomb as sovereign Turkish territory under a treaty signed with France in 1921, when Syria was under French rule. About two dozen Turkish special forces soldiers permanently guard it.

“NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUE”

Turkey threatened two weeks ago to retaliate for any attack on the tomb following clashes between militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), an al Qaeda breakaway group, and rival rebel groups in the area, east of Aleppo near the Turkish border.

“An operation against ISIL has international legitimacy. We will define it as al Qaeda. There are no issues on the al Qaeda framework. When it comes to the Suleyman Shah tomb, it’s about the protection of national soil,” a voice presented as that of foreign ministry undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu says.

When the discussion turns to the need to justify such an operation, the voice purportedly of Fidan says: “Now look, my commander, if there is to be justification, the justification is, I send four men to the other side. I get them to fire eight missiles into empty land. That’s not a problem. Justification can be created.”

The foreign ministry said it was natural for state officials to discuss defending Turkish territory.

“In the meeting it was confirmed that Turkey would take necessary steps decisively to protect the security of our personnel at the Suleyman Shah tomb and Turkey‘s will to defend it in the face of an attack was reiterated,” the statement said.

A source in Erdogan’s office said the video sharing service was blocked as a precaution after the voice recordings created a “national security issue” and said it may lift the ban if YouTube agreed to remove the content.

Google said it was looking into reports that some users in Turkey were unable to access its video-sharing site YouTube, saying there was no technical problem on its side.

The ban on Twitter had already sparked outrage in Turkey and drawn international condemnation. Shortly after the YouTube move, the hashtag #YoutubeBlockedinTurkey was trending globally, although some users defended the latest government decision given the sensitive nature of the recordings.

By Alexandria Sage

A French court ordered Closer magazine on Thursday to pay actress Julie Gayet 15,000 euros  for publishing photos that revealed an affair between her and President Francois Hollande, her lawyer told Reuters.

The 7-page photo spread published on January 10 showed the comings and goings outside a Parisian apartment rented by Gayet. It included the night-time arrival and morning departure of Gayet and, separately, that of man wearing a black helmet and said to be Hollande.

Neither party has denied the affair, but Gayet filed a lawsuit alleging breach of privacy. Hollande chose not to sue.

Gayet’s lawyer Jean Ennochi, who had been asking for a larger sum of 50,000 euros, said his client’s life had been “turned upside down” by the publication.

The disclosure by the magazine was followed by Hollande’s breakup with his partner of eight years, Valerie Trierweiler.

The scandal was an unwelcome distraction for Hollande, whose popularity ratings are at record lows, as he tries to stem rising unemployment and spur growth in the euro zone’s second-largest economy.

Gayet, a Socialist party supporter who has acted in French films including the 2013 comedy Quai d’Orsay, backed Hollande during the 2012 presidential race.

By Michael Holden

A British coroner recorded an open verdict on Thursday on the death of exiled Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky whose body was found in the bathroom of his ex-wife’s home in Britain last March, the BBC reported.

Berezovsky, who helped broker Vladimir Putin’s rise to the Kremlin’s top job only to become his sworn enemy, was found dead with a ligature around his neck in the bathroom of a luxury mansion in Ascot, an affluent English town near Queen Elizabeth’s Windsor Castle, west of London.

The family of the tycoon, 67, feared he might have been murdered by his enemies in Russia for his criticism of the Kremlin.

But Coroner Peter Bedford recorded an open verdict, saying the evidence did not reveal the means by which his death arose, the BBC said.

Pathologists at the inquest gave differing views on the cause of death. Bernd Brinkmann said that Berezovsky could not have hanged himself and was likely to have been strangled.

But a state pathologist, Simon Poole, said that the oligarch, who had suffered depression after losing a $6 billion damages claim to Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich in 2012, had hanged himself using his scarf.

On Wednesday, Berezovsky’s bodyguard Avi Navama told the inquest his employer had asked him about the best ways to commit suicide and told him he was “the poorest man in the world” after the case.

THE incident caused consternation on the Turkish Cypriot side with all of the media in the north splashing the story on their front pages on Thursday.

Turkish Cypriot negotiator Kudret Ozersay condemned what happened, saying that “with this kind of thinking in the 21^st century we are not getting anywhere”.

Ozersay said that he contacted Talat on Wednesday night but wasn’t able to get through to the Greek Cypriot side.  In a statement on social media Ozersay said “a very serious struggle should be launched against this kind of mentality”.

Turkish Cypriot leader, Dervis Eroglu issued a written statement condemning ELAM’s behaviour and arguing that “the animosity, which some parts of the Greek Cypriot community still feel towards the Turkish Cypriots and reaches the point of violence, is regrettable and unacceptable”.

Eroglu described as “saddening and thought provoking” the fact that the police did not take the necessary measures. He described as “worrying” the fact that “such violent incidents” happen especially in a period during which the Cyprus negotiations were reaching a critical point and when measures to overcome the lack of confidence between the two sides was on the agenda. He said that he was expecting from the Greek Cypriot side to take the necessary measures so that such incidents were not repeated in the future.
Kibris columnist, Hasan Hasturer, who was participating in the conference, said it was not possible to underestimate the incident, but it would be wrong to overestimate it.

He says ELAM was a threat to both the Turkish Cypriots and the Greek Cypriots and that the behaviour of the Greek Cypriots who were in the conference room was very positive. “No one left the room. The Turkish Cypriots and the Greek Cypriots who were there exhibited silent resistance. The conference was not left half-finished. This would be tantamount to surrendering to the fascists… After the conference, when the preparation for the departure was continuing, the President of the Republic of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades called and expressed his sorrow to Mehmet Ali Talat for what had happened. The important thing was that Anastasiades said that the insufficient police measures and the passive behaviour of the police would be investigated and that what was necessary would be done…”

THERE was widespread condemnation yesterday of ELAM’s actions both from private and political circles but while the parties expressed their disgust over the incident, some criticised the president’s decision to sack the police chief.

Main opposition party AKEL’s general-secretary Andros Kyprianou said his party had last year provided police with photographs of ELAM members participating in combat exercises at a mountain camp. “In a recent letter I received from the Attorney-general’s office, I was notified that ELAM members would not be prosecuted because the legal services claim they (ELAM) didn’t know they were breaking any laws at the time,” he said. However, AKEL said ultimate responsibility for the foul-up lay with Justice Minister Ionas Nicolaou, as the political head of the police force.

“Instead the minister and the president shifted exclusive responsibility on to the chief of police,” the party said.

It said that when AKEL highlighted the dangers of the far-right faction in Cyprus, Nicolaou had mocked them.

“He even recently denied the existence of organised right-wing factions in Cyprus. As for the even in question, despite knowing about the event itself a week before, no preventive measures were taken,” the party said.
“If they assigned responsibilities to the chief of police, because he knew and did not act, then how come there are no responsibilities assigned to the minister of justice, given that his ministry was informed and had also not acted.”

Socialist EDEK took a similar tone. It said the party respected  freedom of speech and that protesting should be protected by law. “But we will not tolerate hooligans who attempt to take that right away from other people through fascist violence,” said a statement.

Later after the police chief was fired, the party said it was surprised by the hasty decision taken by the president.

“The written statement by the president raises questions about the real reasons and motives for sacking the chief of police,” the party said.

Before the decision to fire the chief, the other parties, ruling DISY, DIKO, the Greens and the Citizens Alliance all condemned the ELAM incident.
“What took place is a recipe for national disaster,” said DISY, adding that the party expected the state to punish those responsible.

DIKO said the kind of behaviour witnesses in hurt democracy and freedom of expression. “The state should stop turning a blind eye when it comes to neo-fascists and other extremists,” the party said.

By Elias Hazou

The sacking of Michalis Papageorgiou turned ugly on Thursday as the former police chief hurled allegation after allegation at the DISY administration and at justice minister Ionas Nicolaou, whom he said was out to get him from day one.

“They wanted to get rid of me since before the elections, as far back as February 2013. They were just looking for the right opportunity,” Papageorgiou told a news conference he called shortly after getting the boot.

The chief claimed justice minister Nicolaou, his political boss, had it in for him all along. Often, he said, Nicolaou would keep him waiting outside his office as long as 90 minutes.

Papageorgiou, appointed to the job by the previous government, went on to portray himself as the clean cop who refused to play ball with corrupt goings-on.

He even charged that Nicolaou had tipped off a suspect in a criminal probe that he was about to be arrested. He was referring to the Dromolaxia land deal, where several persons are currently facing charges of corruption and fraud.

“I wonder what sin the police chief has committed?” he said, talking about himself in the third person, a quirk perhaps reminiscent of infamous 1920s bootlegger George Remus.

“It is because I refused to go with the flow?” he then added, switching to the first person.

Papageorgiou accused Nicolaou of methodically seeking to undermine him via a mudslinging campaign. The justice minister, he suggested, was behind a series of unflattering media reports claiming that Papageorgiou disregarded court rulings.

Firing another broadside on the CyBC evening news bulletin, Papageorgiou said that a former associate of his, who was suspected of making leaks to the media, was later spotted at Nicolaou’s office.

The insinuation was that the associate, who was transferred out of the chief’s office, had been working in cahoots with the justice minister. The person is now employed as an associate of the justice minister.

Earlier, the embattled Papageorgiou admitted he was asleep as members of far-right group ELAM stormed a Cyprus problem talk in Limassol on Wednesday night.

But yesterday, Papageorgiou said he had been aware of ELAM’s intentions to disrupt the event. The fact he was out of reach at the time of the actual disturbances did not point to dereliction of duty or incompetence, he said, since the deputy police chief had been authorised to handle the affair.

Later in the day, Nicolaou held his own press conference, addressing Papageorgiou’s claims one by one.

The minister denied having prior knowledge of pending arrests in the Dromolaxia case, and said moreover that in reality he was being kept in the dark about the whole investigation.

“One has to wonder why Mr. Papageorgiou decided to go public with these groundless allegations today, only after he was terminated and not during all this time when these alleged practices were taking place. Would he have done the same had he kept his position?”

“The only point on which I agree with Mr. Papageorgiou is that he lacked the necessary tolerance to the pressures of the job,” Nicolaou added, driving in the blade.

“It is true that from the first day that I took office as justice minister I supervised the police and issued instructions for the implementation of the government programme. How can the fact that a senior police officer fulfils his duties be construed as putting undue pressure on him or undermining him?”

Three members of far-right group ELAM were on Friday released from custody after the court denied a police request that the suspects be remanded over the violent disturbances in Limassol on Wednesday evening.

The police had asked the court to remand in custody the three suspects – aged 25, 30 and 39 – for six days. The three had been arrested on Thursday - a full day after the incident – on suspicion of conspiracy to commit a crime, conspiracy to commit a misdemeanour, disturbing the peace and assaulting a police officer.

In court today, police argued that the continued detention of the three was vital to ongoing investigations into Wednesday’s events. Police claimed that dozens more arrests were on the way.

But the Limassol district court was unconvinced, finding the police’s arguments to be “unclear and vague.” It ordered the immediate release of the three suspects.

The court’s ruling was welcomed with applause in the courtroom by members of ELAM and friends and relatives of the suspects.

During the remand hearing, the suspects’ lawyer sought to impart political undertones to the case, arguing that there was no hard evidence against the suspects, who were being singled out by authorities because they were members of a particular organisation.

On Wednesday evening some 70 members of the ELAM outfit stormed a Cyprus problem talk in Limassol attended by former Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat.

They managed to enter the lobby and hurled a flare inside the hall. A Turkish Cypriot journalist who tried to take photos was slightly injured when scuffles broke out with police whose presence at the event was inadequate.

By Mirwais Harooni and Hamid Shalizi

Taliban gunmen stormed a Kabul guesthouse used by a US-based aid group and held four foreigners hostage for several hours on Friday, just eight days before Afghanistan holds a presidential election which the militant group has vowed to derail.

Kabul is already on high alert and people across the country are on edge ahead of an April 5 vote the hardline Islamist movement denounces as a Western-backed sham.

The siege of the walled compound, which is also home to a small church, lasted several hours before Afghan security forces killed the last remaining Taliban gunman holed up inside.

At least one Afghan child was killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the building and insurgents forced their way in. There were no casualties among foreigners.

A Reuters witness saw about 20 people being evacuated from the guesthouse in an upmarket residential area of Kabul, many looking frightened and shocked.

“The fight is over. The five attackers are dead,” Qadam Shah Shaheem, commander of 111 Military Corps Kabul, told Reuters.

“One detonated his car loaded with explosives, three others detonated explosives attached to their bodies inside the building, and one was shot by security forces. All four foreigners are alive and safe now.”

The country manager of an organisation using the guesthouse said four people had been held hostage by the Taliban as their colleagues made frantic phone calls to establish if they were alive.

“I can confirm it was attacked and that there are only four people (inside),” said Hajji Mohammad Sharif Osmani, country manager of Roots of Peace, a US-based group involved in demining and other projects in Afghanistan.

“The rest of the guys are outside.”

TALIBAN ON THE ATTACK

The attack was a chilling reminder to Afghan voters and foreigners of the kind of assault the Taliban are capable of mounting in the heavily guarded Afghan capital after their leaders ordered fighters to disrupt the election.

Violence has spiralled in Afghanistan in recent weeks with almost daily explosions and gunfights around the country.

Taliban suicide bombers and gunmen attacked an election commission office in Kabul on Tuesday, and last week, nine people including an AFP journalist and an election observer were killed in an attack on a highly fortified hotel in the capital.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for Friday’s assault, saying in a statement that the target was a foreign guesthouse and a church.

The nation of 30 million is holding an election to choose a successor to outgoing President Hamid Karzai, who is barred by the constitution from running for another term in office.

It will be seen as a major test by foreign donors who are hesitant about bankrolling the government after the bulk of NATO troops stationed in Afghanistan withdraw later this year.

By Iacovos Constantinou
THE clash at the GSP stadium between second-placed APOEL and third-placed Apollon stands out in the battle for the Cyprus championship, while in the relegation scramble, AEK Kouklion take on Aris Limassol in a must-win game for both sides.

Champions APOEL have an impressive home league record against Apollon. The last time they dropped points was more than four years ago while their last loss dates back to 2000. The Nicosia giants will be at full strength with Amorin returning to the starting eleven following a one-game suspension.

On the other hand Apollon know that a loss will all but end their hopes for the championship and their task is made even more difficult as their charismatic captain and leading scorer Gaston Sangoy is suspended. Sangoy has missed four games so far this season and his team managed just one win in his absence.

Leaders AEL are at home to Ermis Aradippou, with the Limassol side favourites to collect all three points, especially as Ermis have a tough semi-final Cup game against Apollon on Wednesday.

Omonia’s new coach Kaiafas will be hoping that it will be third time lucky for him and his team against Anorthosis. In his first two games in charge, Omonia were desperately unlucky not to win having outplayed their opponents for long spells.
On the other hand Anorthosis are going from bad to worse and anything other than an Omonia win will be considered a surprise.

In the relegation battle, AEK Kouklion host Aris with both teams desperate for three points. They are already five and three points from safety respectively, and a draw will only suit the other relegation candidate Ethikos Achnas.

Ethnikos travels to the GSZ stadium in Larnaca to face an indifferent AEK. The game will be played behind closed doors as the home team is serving a one-game ban.
A few weeks ago nobody considered Doxa Katokopias as relegation material but a string of bad results has positioned them perilously close to the drop zone. They need a win against Nea Salamina so that they can then turn their attention to next Wednesday’s cup tie against APOEL.
Nea Salamina lead the bottom playoff group and want to finish the season in that position.

Saturday, March 29th: Doxa Katokopias v Nea Salamina (15.30) AEL v Ermis, APOEL v Apollon (17.00)
Sunday, March 30th: AEK Kouklion v Aris Limassol, AEK Larnaca v Ethnikos Achnas (17.00) Omonia v Anorthosis (18.00)

ROBBERS made off with €11,600 worth of stolen cash, watches and jewellery from a Paphos flat reported burgled on Thursday night.

According to the flat owner, the place on Alexandroupoleos Street in Paphos was burgled between 8pm and 11pm on Thursday, with the perpetrators making off with €10,000 in cash, 4 watches and a cross.

Members of the Criminal Investigation Department arrived on the scene where they discovered that the burglars entered the flat by taking the lock off the wooden door of the flat’s main entrance.

Police collected various items from the scene for further examination.

POLICE are investigating a case of domestic violence after two brothers got into a fight in Liopetri, resulting in one shooting at the other with a hunting rifle.

Police were notified on Thursday afternoon by a member of the public that a 19-year-old had shot at his 20-year-old brother, causing minor injury to his legs.

Members of Famagusta CID went to the scene in Liopetri but the two brothers had run off before they could get there.

According to a police spokesman, the authorities later caught up with the brothers to take statements from them, and are treating the incident as one of domestic violence.

“Given that it’s a matter of domestic violence between two brothers, we do not wish to comment on the matter, other than to say we are continuing investigations,” said George Economou.

Asked about the older brother’s injuries, the spokesman noted that the 20-year-old was later seen playing football.
 

Cyprus abolished maximum daily cash withdrawal limits from bank accounts on Friday, a year after it imposed capital controls to prevent economic meltdown and a flight of cash under the terms of a painful international bailout.

In a decree issued by the finance ministry, the €300 limit per person per day was scrapped, along with restrictions on breaking fixed-interest time deposits prior to maturity.

The decree also allowed, under conditions, individuals to open bank accounts in other credit institutions.

The finance ministry said the decision was taken because a performance-linked roadmap of stabilising the banking sector had been met.

One of the benchmarks was completing the merger of Co-Op banks, a network of small lenders which received bailout money under terms of 10 billion euros in international aid to Cyprus.

Individuals were also allowed to transfer up to €50,000 in funds per month without supporting documentation, and businesses €200,000, the finance ministry said.

Restrictions remain on moving money abroad. Cypriot officials have previously said they anticipate that all controls could be fully lifted by the end of 2014.

Cyprus was forced to wind down a major bank and convert large deposits in a second to recapitalise it in order to qualify for aid from the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission. (Reuters)

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund on Friday approved the disbursement of the next tranche of financial assistance to Cyprus of around €83.3 million

This disbursement brings total disbursements under the arrangement to €333.2 million of the IMF arrangement`s total €1billion.

The approval was preceded by the positive report of the IMF Mission Chief for Cyprus Delia Velculescu and the positive stances of the members of the Board.

“The programme is intended to stabilise the country’s financial system, achieve fiscal sustainability, and support the recovery of economic activity to preserve the welfare of the population,” the IMF said in a news release.

The judgment that Russia’s incursion into Crimea resulted from American weakness downplays more influential factors. The role that Ukraine plays in Russia’s narrative of post-Soviet atrophy, for instance, suggests that it would also be central to any Russian effort to restore its imperial boundaries. Zbigniew Brzezinski noted 20 years ago “the widespread feeling in Moscow that Ukrainian independence is an abnormality as well as a threat to Russia’s standing as a global power.” With last month’s ouster of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, Russia evidently concluded that this threat had become existential.

The diagnosis of weakness also exaggerates U.S. agency. Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul observes that “no U.S. president has ever succeeded in deterring Soviet military intervention in Eastern Europe over the last 70 years.” Confining herself to the post-Cold War period, Anne Applebaum renders a similar judgment: The United States, she explains, has “had very little influence on Russian internal politics since 1991, even when we’ve understood them. The most important changes … took place against our advice. The most important military decisions … met with our protests.”

The pressing question is not what the United States could have done to pre-empt Russia’s gambit, but how the United States and its allies in Western Europe will react. Thinking of Russian President Vladimir Putin as a master strategist will undermine their ability to respond constructively.

Few would contest Putin’s shrewdness. He served as an intelligence officer in the Soviet Union’s principal security agency from 1975 to 1989, has remained the dominant figure in Russian politics since his appointment as prime minister in 1999, and has managed, time and again, to shift attention away from systemic Russian weaknesses to his own cunning. Given the extent of distrust between the United States and Russia, moreover, it is unsurprising that many U.S. observers tend to impute long-term designs to Putin’s conduct.

The available evidence suggests, however, that impulse and improvisation have driven Putin’s recent actions at least as much as calculation. According to The New York Times, a survey of Putin’s remarks and a series of interviews with Russian diplomats and analysts indicate that “the Kremlin’s strategy emerged haphazardly, even misleadingly, over a tense and momentous week,” and that some of its decisions, “particularly the one to invade Crimea, then took on a life of their own.”

Even if one believes that Western fecklessness has emboldened Putin, it cannot compensate for the domestic capacity that Russia would need to pursue a long-term project of “Eurasian integration” (to borrow a phrase from Putin’s March 18 address). Given its growing Muslim population and the soaring Chinese presence in its Far East, the number of ethnic Russians is declining even faster than Russia’s overall population. Beyond its poor demographic outlook, the shale-gas renaissance in the United States and the construction of gas terminals throughout Western Europe are undercutting the coercive leverage that Russia can exercise with its own gas resources.

As for actually executing a plan to “re-Sovietize” its periphery, the path from reabsorbing Crimea to suborning all of Ukraine would not be straightforward. As Johan Norberg explains, “dividing the country in any meaningful way with military force is too big a task even for the Russian military. Even a limited operation in the most Russian-friendly areas of Eastern Ukraine would be very complex and demanding to sustain over time.”

While Belarus, to the north, has erstwhile been one of Russia’s closest allies, it has come out in opposition to Ukraine’s partition, if only for reasons of self-interest. Andrew Wilson argues that its economy “depends on good relations with countries in the European Union. … But Russia’s aggression in Ukraine – and Putin’s suggestion that the competition in the region is zero-sum – is now threatening to put those relationships in jeopardy.”

Sandwiched between Ukraine and Romania, Moldova will be a litmus test of Russian revanchism’s potential. While some observers are already calling its breakaway Transdniestria region the next Crimea, Moldovan President Nicolae Timofti has warned Russia against any adventurism there.

If Russia would find it difficult to incorporate these three non-NATO members – Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova – imagine the resistance it would encounter if it tried to absorb the numerous countries in its vicinity that do belong to that alliance. To its immediate west are Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Farther west are Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria.

While Russia’s annexation of Crimea has intensified concern about NATO’s capability and cohesion, it has also renewed the alliance’s raison d’être. Robin Niblett assesses that “Putin could not have scripted this better for those who believe in the continuing relevance of NATO.” Given his opposition to “having a military alliance making itself at home right in our backyard or in our historic territory,” why would Putin risk the reaffirmation of NATO’s mission?

Russia’s incursion could also limit the prospects of two major diplomatic initiatives: the fledgling Eurasian Economic Union – which currently consists of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan – and the Eurasian Union, which Putin envisions as “a powerful supranational association capable of becoming one of the poles in the modern world.”

Less discussed, but no less relevant, is the fact that it could complicate Russia’s relationship with China. A public display of support for Russia’s actions would not only go against China’s longstanding normative commitment to noninterference in other countries’ affairs, but would also delegitimize its opposition to independence for Taiwan, Tibet, and Xinjiang.

If Putin deduces from the annexation of Crimea that Eurasian integration is feasible, he may have succumbed to hubris. It is also possible, of course, that he has no such designs and suffers no such illusions – the fear of losing Ukraine may have been so visceral that he decided to incur the sorts of costs that a rational leader would try to avert. However one interprets Russia’s foray into Crimea, though, it seems premature to call it strategic.

Ali Wyne is an associate of Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and a contributing analyst at Wikistrat. He is also a co-author of Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master’s Insights on China, the United States, and the World (2013).

This article first appeared in www.themarknews.com

By Adrian Croft

NATO chose former Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg as its next leader on Friday at a time when the Western military alliance must deal with a resurgent Russia following its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea.

Stoltenberg will take over as secretary-general of the 28-nation grouping on Oct. 1, succeeding former Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who has led NATO since 2009.

Stoltenberg, the first Norwegian to occupy NATO’s top post, will take over at a time when NATO, seen by some as a Cold War relic, has gained new relevance because of concerns about what the Ukraine crisis says about a newly assertive Russia.

“Stoltenberg’s Norway is seen as a very serious defence player and has always taken the challenge of Russia very, very seriously. I think there is a little bit of a signal there,” said Daniel Keohane, a defence expert at the FRIDE thinktank.

Stoltenberg will take over at a turning point in NATO’s history.

The urgency of the Ukraine crisis means that the alliance, which is due to end combat operations in Afghanistan at the end of this year, is likely to refocus back onto its core task of defending its member countries.

NATO foreign ministers are expected to discuss next week in Brussels how they can reinforce the alliance’s military presence in eastern European countries such as the Baltics and Poland, which are nervous that they are vulnerable.

CHALLENGE

Stoltenberg will also face a challenge in trying to persuade European countries to reverse, or at least end, sharp cuts in defence spending that many of them have adopted in response to the financial crisis.

Stoltenberg, who served for nearly 10 years as Norway’s prime minister before losing elections last September, was backed by the United States, NATO’s dominant power, and Germany. British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Wednesday that he also backed Stoltenberg.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, regarded as another potential candidate for NATO leader, said on Twitter on Thursday that Stoltenberg would be “a good NATO secretary-general. Poland will support him.”

Others in the frame to succeed Rasmussen were Belgian Defence Minister Pieter de Crem and former Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini.

Stoltenberg is considered a skilful economic operator who got Norway through the global financial crisis relatively unharmed as the government used its massive stored oil wealth to boost spending, create demand and keep unemployment low.

(For a newsmaker on Stoltenberg, click on )

His governments backed NATO’s military campaigns in Afghanistan and Libya. During his time as prime minister, the country also began to place orders for Joint Strike Fighter aircraft from US manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corp to replace an ageing fleet of F-16s.

Stoltenberg was Norway’s prime minister when far right militant Anders Behring Breivik went on a bombing and shooting spree in 2011 that killed 77 people.

THE Green Party yesterday highlighted the transformation of a Natura 2000 protected site into a vast wasteland of rubbish.

The Greens visited an area between the communities of Denia and Kokkinotrimithia, accompanied by Denia council leader Christakis Panayiotou.

“We discovered with sadness that the area has been transformed into a vast rubbish dump,” said a Greens statement, adding that a lot of the waste dumped evidently comes from nearby farm units. Rubble from demolition sites was also found, along with household rubbish and plastics.

The area is known for its lush herbs and vegetation and panoramic views of the plains of western Mesaoria.

The Greens called on the relevant authorities to clean the area of rubbish, threatening otherwise to report the waste dump in a protected area to the EU.