By Tansa Musa

The wife of Cameroon’s vice prime minister was kidnapped and at least three people were killed in an attack by Boko Haram militants on in the northern town of Kolofata on Sunday, Cameroon officials said.

A local religious leader, or lamido, named Seini Boukar Lamine, who is also the town’s mayor, was kidnapped as well, in a separate attack on his home.

Boko Haram, the Nigerian Islamist militant group, has stepped up cross-border attacks into Cameroon in recent weeks as Cameroon has deployed troops to the region, joining international efforts to combat the militants.

“I can confirm that the home of Vice Prime Minister Amadou Ali in Kolofata came under a savage attack from Boko Haram militants,” Issa Tchiroma told Reuters by telephone.

“They unfortunately took away his wife. They also attacked the lamido’s residence and he was also kidnapped,” he said, and at least three people were killed in the attack.

A Cameroon military commander in the region told Reuters that the vice prime minister, who was at home to celebrate the Muslim feast of Ramadan with his family, was taken to a neighbouring town by security officials.

“The situation is very critical here now, and as I am talking to you the Boko Haram elements are still in Kolofata town in a clash with our soldiers,” said Colonel Felix Nji Formekong, the second commander of Cameroon’s third inter-army military region, based in the regional headquarters Maroua.

The Sunday attack is the third Boko Haram attack into Cameroon since Friday. At least four soldiers were killed in the previous attacks. Meanwhile, some 22 suspected Boko Haram militants, who have been held in Maroua since March, were on Friday sentenced to prison sentences ranging from 10 to 20 years. It was unclear whether the events are related.

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell

Hamas Islamist militants have agreed to a 24-hour humanitarian truce in their conflict with Israel in the Gaza Strip, a spokesman for the group said on Sunday, hours after fighting between the sides resumed.

“It has been agreed among resistance factions to endorse a 24-hour humanitarian calm,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters, saying the calm should start at 2.00 p.m. (1100 GMT).

An Israeli official said the truce was being reviewed.

However, as 2.00 p.m. came and went, the sound of heavy Israeli shelling could be heard within Gaza and sirens sounded in Israeli communities near the border area, suggesting Palestinian militants had fired missiles at them.

Israel had called off its own 24-hour truce earlier in the day after Hamas launched rockets into southern and central Israel, and Palestinian medics said at least 10 people had died in the wave of subsequent strikes that swept Gaza.

Some 1,060 Palestinians, mainly civilians and including many children, have been killed in the 20-day conflict. Israel says 43 of its soldiers have died, along with three civilians killed by rocket and mortar fire out of the Mediterranean enclave.

Israel and the Hamas Islamists who control Gaza had agreed to a 12-hour ceasefire on Saturday to allow Palestinians to stock up on supplies and retrieve bodies from under the rubble.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet decided to extend the quiet until midnight on Sunday, on condition that its forces could continue to track down and destroy militant tunnels that criss-cross the Gaza border.

After initially rejecting the extension, Hamas spokesman Abu Zuhri said Hamas had accepted a U.N. truce request on Sunday in light of the upcoming Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which is expected to start in the next couple of days.

Netanyahu was due to convene his cabinet later on Sunday to decide how to move forward, and at least one senior minister said Israel must step up its offensive.

“After what we saw this morning, it is clear we need to resume fighting with even greater force,” Communications Minister Gilad Erdan told Army Radio.

DIPLOMATIC BLOCK

Israel launched its Gaza offensive on July 8 to halt rocket attacks by Hamas and its allies, which have struggled under an Israeli-Egyptian economic blockade on Gaza and were angered by a crackdown on their supporters in the nearby occupied West Bank.

After aerial and naval bombardment failed to quell the outgunned guerrillas, Israel poured ground forces into the Gaza Strip 10 days later, looking to knock out Hamas’s rocket stores and destroy the vast network of tunnels.

Diplomatic efforts led by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to end the 20-day conflict have shown little sign of progress. Israel and Hamas have set conditions that appear irreconcilable.

Hamas wants an end to the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza before agreeing to halt hostilities. Israel has signalled it could make concessions toward that end, but only if Gaza’s militant groups are stripped of their weapons.

“Hamas must be permanently stripped of its missiles and tunnels in a supervised manner,” Economy Minister Naftali Bennett said, “In return we will agree to a host of economic alleviations,” the security cabinet member said on Facebook.

Kerry flew back to Washington overnight after meeting in Paris with foreign ministers of France, Italy, Britain, Germany, Turkey and Qatar, with no sign of progress.

The main U.N. agency in Gaza, UNRWA, said 167,269 displaced Palestinians have taken shelter in the organisation’s schools and buildings, following repeated calls by Israel for civilians to evacuate whole neighbourhoods ahead of military operations.

During the lull in fighting inside Gaza on Saturday, residents flooded into the streets to discover scenes of massive destruction in some areas, including Beit Hanoun in the north and Shejaia in the east.

Israel hopes that the images of widespread desolation would persuade Gazans to put pressure on Hamas to stop the fighting for fear of yet more devastation.

The Israeli military says its forces have uncovered more than 30 tunnels in Gaza, with some of the burrows reaching into Israeli territory and designed to launch surprise attacks on Jewish communities along the border.

The military said on Sunday it found a tunnel that led directly into the dining room of an Israeli kibbutz.

Other underground passages, the military says, serve as weapons caches and Hamas bunkers. One official said troops had found it easier to operate during the truce as the immediate threat to their safety was diminished.

The Gaza turmoil has stoked tensions amongst Palestinians in mainly Arab East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.

Medics said eight Palestinians were killed on Friday in incidents near the West Bank cities of Nablus and Hebron – the sort of death toll reminiscent of previous uprisings against Israel’s prolonged military rule there.

The violence has sparked protests outside the region.

Demonstrators in London marched from the Israeli embassy to the House of Parliament in Whitehall, blocking traffic throughout the West End. French police clashed with pro-Palestinian protesters defied a ban by authorities to march in central Paris

The Bank of Cyprus` (BOC) Board of Directors will meet on Monday at 10.30 (local time) to decide on increasing the share capital of the bank, after the evaluation of the tenders submitted by qualified investors in a process that ended last Friday.

The Board will decide which of the bids received from the investors will be accepted.

According to CNA sources, the issue of share capital increase is expected to be the first to be discussed at Monday`s Board meeting, which is expected to be long because of the many issues on the agenda.

However, it is likely that the Board will make an announcement immediately after the decision to increase the share capital by €1 billion. The Board will also determine the price of the share.

According to sources the biggest interest for investing in the Bank was demonstrated by foreign hedge funds.

BOC`s capital increase by € 1 billion is expected to lead to an increase of the Bank`s Core Tier 1 ratio from 10.6%, to 14,6%.

The increase of the index is expected to enhance competitiveness and trust in the bank and also the bank`s ability to pass the stress test of the European Central Bank.

At the end of the this first phase of the capital increase, participating investors will enter into firm commitments in respect of their orders and the Bank will call an Extraordinary General Meeting of shareholders, expected to take place in August, to approve the transaction, including the waiving of their pre-emption rights.

Existing shareholders will be able to apply to purchase up to 20% in aggregate of the total number of shares offered to qualified investors in the first phase and at the same price as in phase 1 (the “clawback”). The minimum purchase per investor in the clawback will be €100,000 and all existing shareholders (whether or not qualified investors) will be eligible to participate.

CNA/TNE/EC/2014

Cyprus is ready to accept European citizens or third country nationals that will flee Gaza or Syria due to the ongoing crisis, the Minister of Interior Socrates Hasikos said Sunday, pointing out however that these individuals will use Cyprus as a transit point to depart for their final destination.

The Minister of Interior said that Cyprus has the infrastructure and the operational plans that will enable the country to accommodate EU nationals or citizens of third countries.

He explained that Cyprus will serve as a transit point for 3 -4 days and after that, these people will travel to their final destination.

Asked whether Cyprus has information on population mobility due to the conflict in the region, the Minister of Interior said that he has no such information, nor the government is aware of such a possibility. He added that the Ministry follows the issue and will deal with it if and when this occurs.

To a question whether the government will seek assistance from the EU, the Minister explained that Europe is already addressing the crisis and that there is a European project involving all Member States.

CNA

By Eric Beech

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday the Palestinian militant group Hamas had violated its own offer of a 24-hour humanitarian truce in Gaza.

Asked whether Israel would accept the truce offer, Netanyahu told CNN’s “State of the Union” program: “Hamas doesn’t even accept its own cease-fire, it’s continuing to fire at us as we speak.”

Netanyahu added that Israel “will take what ever action is necessary to protect our people.”

Hamas said it had offered a 24-hour “humanitarian calm” period that had been due to start at 2 p.m. local time (1100 GMT) on Sunday.

However, as 2 p.m. came and went, the sound of heavy Israeli shelling could be heard within Gaza and sirens sounded in Israeli communities near the border area, suggesting Palestinian militants had fired missiles at them.

Some 1,060 Palestinians, mainly civilians and including many children, have been killed in the 20-day conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. Israel says 43 of its soldiers have died, along with three civilians.

In an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Netanyahu said Hamas had broken five cease-fires that Israel had accepted and implemented.

“They rejected all of them, violated all of them, including two humanitarian cease-fires in the last 24 hours,” Netanyahu said.

He told NBC’s “Meet the Press” program that going forward a peace initiative being brokered by the Egyptian government “is the only game in town.”

He added that Israel’s goal was the “demilitarization of Gaza.”

By Alan Baldwin

Australian Daniel Ricciardo won the Hungarian Formula One Grand Prix for Red Bull on Sunday while Lewis Hamilton roared from pitlane to podium in another astonishing performance by the Mercedes driver.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso was second and championship leader Nico Rosberg, who started on pole position for Mercedes, finished fourth and saw his lead over Hamilton cut from 14 points to 11.

Instead of Rosberg and Mercedes running away with the race, the race ran away from Rosberg with his team beaten for only the second time in 11 grands prix.

Ricciardo, a revelation in his first year at Red Bull, emptied his lungs in sheer elation after he took the chequered flag 5.2 seconds ahead of the Spaniard for his second win of the season and of his career.

“It feels as good as the first win, it really does,” beamed the Australian, who took his first win in Canada, after a rollercoaster of a race with two safety car periods and plenty of incident.

“The safety car at first played to our advantage but the second one didn’t really help us, but we got there in the end and I had to do the overtaking at the end which was fun.”

All of the top four had led over the course of a race that started after a brief downpour, was interrupted by two big crashes, continued with the ever-present threat of rain and finished on a knife-edge.

TYRE GAMBLE

Ricciardo, who had led earlier in the race and was on fresher tyres, swept past Hamilton three laps from the end and overtook a determined Alonso to regain the lead for good with two laps to go.

“We took a gamble to try to get the victory and we got very close,” said Alonso of his second podium finish of the season.

“We need some crazy races to get a podium and we took our chances today.”

Behind them, Rosberg – who had also made three stops to Alonso and Hamilton’s two – was closing in remorselessly and was all over the back of his team mate’s car as they started the final lap.

Hamilton hung on, after earlier disregarding calls from the team to let Rosberg pass because the German still had one more pitstop to make, to seize a podium finish that had looked improbable on Saturday.

“I was just pushing as hard as I could to see if I could get as high as I could,” said Hamilton, who had won for the last two years in Hungary and finished third in Germany last weekend after starting 20th.

The Briton had to start from the pitlane – and behind Danish rookie Kevin Magnussen whose McLaren was also moved off the grid – after his car caught fire in qualifying before he had completed a lap.

He spun at the second corner, skimming the wall without damage, and was 21 seconds down on Rosberg after the first lap with a mountain to climb.

By lap seven Hamilton was up to 14th and events played into his hands when the safety car was deployed after Sweden’s Marcus Ericsson crashed his Caterham at turn three.

While the top four decided not to pit, in what proved out to be a mistake that turned the race on its head, Hamilton and others did. Ricciardo then took the lead when they came in a lap later.

Frenchman Romain Grosjean kept the safety car out for four more laps when he crashed his Lotus on lap 11 and there was a further interruption on lap 23 when Force India’s Mexican Sergio Perez speared into the wall on the pit straight.

Driver and constructor standings after the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix at Hungaroring on Sunday
Drivers Points
1. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 202
2. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 191
3. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull 131
4. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari 115
5. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams 95
6. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull 88
7. Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Force India 69
8. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 60
9. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams 40
10. Kevin Magnussen (Denmark) McLaren 37
11. Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India 29
12. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 27
13. Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso 11
14. Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus 8
15. Daniil Kvyat (Russia) Toro Rosso 6
16. Jules Bianchi (France) Marussia 2
17. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Sauber 0
18. Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) Caterham 0
19. Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Lotus 0
20. Esteban Gutierrez (Mexico) Sauber 0
21. Max Chilton (Britain) Marussia 0
22. Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Caterham 0

Constructors Points
1. Mercedes 393
2. RedBull – Renault 219
3. Ferrari 142
4. Williams-Mercedes 135
5. Force India – Mercedes 98
6. McLaren 97
7. Toro Rosso – Renault 17
8. Lotus – Renault 8
9. Marussia – Ferrari 2
10. Sauber – Ferrari 0
11. Caterham – Renault 0

By Patrick Markey

A rocket hit a fuel storage tank in a chaotic battle for Tripoli airport that has all but closed off international flights to Libya, leaving fire-fighters struggling to extinguish a giant conflagration.

Foreign governments have looked on powerless as anarchy sweeps across the North African oil producer, three years after NATO bombardment helped topple dictator Muammar Gaddafi. They have urged nationals to leave Libya and have pulled diplomats out after two weeks of clashes among rival factions killed nearly 160 people in Tripoli and the eastern city of Benghazi.

The Netherlands, the Philippines and Austria on Monday prepared to evacuate diplomatic staff. The United States, United Nations and Turkish embassies have already shut operations after the worst violence since the 2011 uprising.

Two rival brigades of former rebels fighting for control of Tripoli International Airport have pounded each other’s positions with Grad rockets, artillery fire and cannons for two weeks, turning the south of the capital into a battlefield.

In the three messy years since the fall of Gaddafi, Libya’s fragile government and fledging army have been unable to control heavily armed former anti-Gaddafi fighters, who refuse to hand over weapons and continue to rule the streets.

Libya has appealed for international help to stop the country from becoming a failed state. Western partners fear chaos spilling across borders with arms smugglers and militants already profiting from the turmoil.

In neighbouring Egypt, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has repeatedly warned about militants capitalising on Libya’s chaos to set up bases along their mutual frontier.

After the U.S. evacuation, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the “free-wheeling militia violence” had been a real risk for American diplomats on the ground, and called for an end to the violence. U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens was killed by militants along with three others in Benghazi in September 2012.

PALL OF SMOKE OVER TRIPOLI
On Monday, a huge cloud of black smoke trailed across the skies of Tripoli a day after the rocket hit a fuel storage tank near the airport containing six million of litres of gasoline. Nearby residents were evacuated.

Libya’s government has asked for international help to try to contain the disaster at the fuel depot on the airport road, close to other tanks holding gas and diesel, authorities said.

The conflict has forced Tripoli International Airport to shut down. Airliners were reduced to smouldering hulks on the tarmac and the aviation control centre was knocked out.

“This crisis is causing lots of confusion, lots of foreigners are leaving and diplomats are also departing through here,” said Salah Qahdrah, security controller at Mitiga air base, now a secondary airport operating limited flights.

Monday was the start of Eid el-Fitr festivities to mark the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and fighting had eased in the morning. But fuel supplies were growing scarce in the capital with power cuts increasingly frequent.

The health ministry said on Sunday nearly 160 people had been killed in fighting in Tripoli and in Benghazi where regular forces and militias have clashed in open street battles with Islamist militants entrenched there.

WARPLANES, ATTEMPTED HIJACKING
With Libyan security deteriorating, the United States evacuated its embassy in Tripoli on Saturday, spiriting diplomats across the border into Tunisia under heavy military guard including warplanes and a Marine escort.

A British embassy convoy leaving by road for Tunisia came under gunfire in an apparent attempted hijacking on Sunday outside Tripoli as it headed to the border. There were no injuries, but one of its armoured vehicles was damaged.

The Italian embassy has helped 100 citizens and other nationals leave by road or by military aircraft, foreign ministry officials said, while the Dutch embassy was preparing to temporarily close with the departure of its last citizens.

Austria and the Philippines were also down to basic staffing on Monday, with Manila urging its nationals to evacuate “before all routes and options become extremely difficult.”

Libya’s government and special envoys from the United States, the United Nations and European countries on Saturday pushed for a cease-fire and a political deal within the newly elected parliament due to begin sessions in August.

“We have been working to try and improve the situation in Libya through the work of our special envoy alongside the U.S. special envoy, to try and get more of a dialogue going,” British Prime Minister David Cameron’s spokeswoman said.

Since Gaddafi’s demise, Libya has struggled to keep its transition to democracy on track, with its parliament deadlocked by infighting among factions and militias often using threats of force against political rivals.

FACTIONS, TRIBES AND OIL
Former fighters have repeatedly stormed parliament and taken over ministries. One former rebel commander working for the state mutineered and blockaded oil ports for nearly a year to demand more autonomy for his eastern region.

Libya’s oil production was at 500,000 barrels per day last week, down slightly from previous levels when output had began to recover following the end of the port blockade. Oil ministry officials on Monday declined to give updates on output.

Production was more than three times as high before the civil war that toppled Gaddafi. The desert country depends almost entirely on oil exports to feed and employ its population of around 6 million people.

Thousands of ex-rebels have been put on the state payroll as semi-official security forces in an attempt to co-opt them, while others have joined the nascent armed forces.

But often their loyalties are stronger to region, tribe or faction. Fighting now involves two loose confederations of armed factions and their political allies in Tripoli and Benghazi, whose deepening standoff is shaping Libya’s transition.

In Tripoli, on one side are troops from the western town of Zintan and their allies the Qaaqaa and al-Sawaiq brigades, who include some former Gaddafi troops who rebelled in 2011. They have controlled the airport since the fall of the capital.

Against them are ranged various Islamist-leaning militias allied to the port city of Misrata, which is closer to the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Libya. Those militia have now dug in a few kilometres from the airport.

In Benghazi, regular special forces and air force units have joined up with a renegade former army general who has launched a self-declared war on Islamist militants in the city. More than 55 people have been killed over the last week there.

By Julien Pretot

Vincenzo Nibali became the first Italian to win the Tour de France since the late Marco Pantani on Sunday, dominating his rivals on all terrains as his main rivals crashed out of a superb three-week race.
While Italy celebrated its seventh Tour winner, a jubilant France hailed its first double podium finish in 30 years as veteran Jean-Christophe Peraud and youngster Thibaut Pinot took second and third respectively.

“We are very happy, it’s a beautiful victory. Congratulations to the whole team,” said Nibali’s Astana team manager Alexandre Vinokourov.

Nibali beat Peraud by 7:37 and Pinot by 8:15 to become the sixth man to win all three Grand Tours after Belgian Eddy Merckx, Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault, Italian Felice Gimondi and Spaniard Alberto Contador.
The Italian finished safely as the sprinters contested the embers of the three-week Tour around the Champs Elysees, emulating the 1998 feat of Pantani.

Germany’s Marcel Kittel produced a burst of speed to claim the final stage, his fourth stage win of the Tour and a repeat of his victory on the iconic Parisian landmark last year.

Nibali began the day with a near eight-minute lead and only needed to avoid a last-day crash to complete victory.
Contador, who was hoping to add to his two Tour titles, crashed out in the 10th stage, riding 15 kilometres with a broken shinbone before pulling out.

Last year’s winner Chris Froome packed his bags after a crash on the cobbles in the fifth stage, the day Nibali opened a big gap over all his main rivals with a scintillating display on the treacherous lanes of northern France.
“I was ready to take them on. And crashes are part of the race,” Nibali replied when asked if Froome and Contador’s exits would undermine his title.

Nicknamed ‘The Shark of Messina’, Nibali stayed true to his aggressive self by attacking repeatedly on the big climbs, hammering the opposition in the mountains.
While the 2012 Tour crowned a ‘rouleur’ in Wiggins and a climber the following year in Froome, this year’s race belonged to a true all-rounder.

On Sunday, he just stayed safe in the bunch during the last stage as Kittel beat Norway’s Alexander Kristoff and Lithuanian Ramunas Navardauskas.

The 137.5-km procession to Paris started from Evry in a festive atmosphere after the riders were transferred by plane from Bergerac, where all the distinctive jerseys were effectively sealed.

True to tradition, Nibali and his team-mates drank champagne while the peloton rode towards Paris at a snail’s pace.
It got competitive once the race reached Paris as the bunch geared up for the final sprint.
Peraud crashed with 43km left as he slipped on a curve leading to the Champs Elysees. But he got back onto his bike and helped by team-mates, fought his way back into the peloton.

Nibali avoided trouble on the last stage, just as he did for the past incident-packed three weeks.
He took the yellow jersey in the second stage with a late attack on the way to Sheffield, England, where the Tour was greeted with immense crowds.
The Astana rider surrendered his overall lead for just one stage to Tony Gallopin, one of several Frenchmen to impress.
Pinot, 24, claimed the white jersey for the best Under-25 rider, beating compatriot Romain Bardet, sixth overall, after cracking him in the Pyrenees.

Slovakian Peter Sagan sealed his third consecutive green jersey for the points classification although he failed to win a single stage on the Tour.

French outfit Ag2R-La Mondiale won the teams classification.
Poland’s Rafal Majka confirmed he is a top climber by taking the polka dot jersey for the mountains classification after being handed a free role by his team following Contador’s exit.

The 2014 Tour proved a failure for Team Sky as they could not pick themselves up after Froome’s abandon.
Australian Richie Porte was their plan B but he cracked in the first Alpine stage and never recovered.
“We won it twice (with Bradley Wiggins and Froome in 2012 and 2013). You must win with dignity, but also lose with dignity,” Team Sky manager David Brailsford said.

By Jean Christou
FORMER Central Bank Governor Panicos Demetriades has hit back at a New York Times (NYT) article saying he had withheld from the new government a report by BlackRock, which limited the capital needs of the Cypriot banks to €8 billion instead of the €9 billion estimated by rivals Pimco.
In his response, published by Stockwatch, and on Monday by Politis, Demetriades called last week’s NYT article “unsubstantiated, inaccurate and misleading”.
He said the article implied that BlackRock’s calculations were carried out for the capital needs of banks. “This is inaccurate. BlackRock was appointed to help the Central Bank of Cyprus to assess the objectivity of the calculations of Pimco,” he said.
But the NYT was clear on the difference. It said Demetriades had initially solicited bids from Pimco, BlackRock, Oliver Wyman and Clayton Euro Risk to assess the banks’ recapitalisation needs but even though BlackRock offered to do the job for about €9 million – around half of Pimco’s winning bid, the contract was given to the latter.
Then in December 2012, word leaked that the banks could need as much as €10 billion, after which the Bank of Cyprus, complained to Demetriades over what it saw as inflated Pimco estimates. Demetriades then hired the same BlackRock team that missed out on the initial job to review Pimco’s work for €545,000, the NYT said.
BlackRock had been given a redacted version of the Pimco report to assess before the latter delivered its final document to the CBC on February 1, 2013.
“In early March 2013, Demetriades wrote to newly elected President, Nicos Anastasiades, saying he accepted the fact that the Pimco forecasts were on the extreme side. But, he said, even if Cyprus had picked BlackRock in the first place – and the result was a lower estimate for cash required by the banks – it would have mattered little since the country’s creditors were pushing for the highest possible figure,” the NYT said.
“In the letter, however, Mr Demetriades never mentioned the BlackRock report and the questions it raised about Pimco’s findings,” it added.
In his response to the NYT article, Demetriades said the BlackRock report had not been received by the CBC until after the March 25, 2013 Eurogroup meeting that decided on the haircut and was therefore irrelevant.
Technically this is correct as the report was officially submitted to the CBC in May, 2013, sources told the Cyprus Mail yesterday. But, the sources added, the CBC was also given a preliminary version of the assessment by BlackRock before the end of January 2013, almost two months before the bailout decision.
Former Finance Minister Michalis Sarris told the NYT the new government had known nothing about the BlackRock report, adding that if there was anything that identified flaws in the Pimco report or indicated that Cyprus needed less money, it should have been brought to the table.
But Demetriades responded that the BlackRock work was never intended to replace the findings of Pimco.
Both BlackRock in London, and the CBC declined to comment yesterday.
“Mr Demetriades, in his response to the New York Times also fails to comment on the use of Pimco calculations on the sale of the Cypriot banks in Greece,” the sources told the Cyprus Mail on Monday. “This is a major issue, yet he avoids commenting on it at all.”
Cypriot banks’ Greek operations were sold to Greece’s “nearly bankrupt Piraeus Bank” at a rock-bottom price. A few months later, Piraeus reported a 3.5 billion profit and “is now Greece’s largest domestic bank and hedge fund darling,” the NYT said.

RYANAIR boss Michael O’Leary said on Monday that the airline was not particularly interested in acquiring troubled Cyprus Airways, which he said had huge legacy issues.
Ryanair was among nearly 20 companies which last week submitted a non-binding expression of interest in Cyprus Airways, now controlled by the government. The process is a preliminary step towards any eventual binding offer by any bidder.
“We are not particularly interested in Cyprus Airways which has huge legacy issues: pension scheme, historic losses (and) it looks like it may have to repay about 100 million in legal state aid,” O’Leary told reporters in London, after Ryanair released its quarterly results.
Ryanair had submitted an expression of interest in the carrier because the Cypriot government had asked them to, he added.
Cyprus Airways has struggled to survive against cheaper competitors and has been loss-making for years despite several attempts at a turnaround.
The airline has recently resorted to selling assets to stay afloat, including its slots at London’s Heathrow airport.
It is also under scrutiny by the European Commission. Brussels is investigating terms of a 31.3 million euro capital increase in early 2013, and a 73 million euro rescue package by the Cypriot state in 2012 to establish whether it violated state aid rules.
O’Leary said Ryanair was keen to develop its business in Cyprus, and was looking at how to develop markets in the Middle East, using Cyprus as a base.
“We’re happy to work with them on all of that,” said O’Leary, who has discussed expanding tourism with the government.

By George Psyllides
PROPERTY owners have six months to appeal the government’s evaluation of their real estate and correct any other mistakes made in the process of fixing immovable property tax (IPT), officials said on Monday.
The new 2013 values have been published on the land registry’s website though access was impossible on Monday, possibly due to heavy traffic. These new values will be used for accessing and paying IPT from 2015. This year IPT will be assessed using the old 1980 valuation.
Interior Minister Socratis Hasikos said taxpayers now have six months to correct mistakes or appeal the 2013 valuations.
Owners can file an appeal by paying a fee that depends on the value of their property.
For properties up to €100,000, owners will be charged €37.5, €75 for properties between €100,001 and €500,000, €150 for properties up to one million euros, and €357 for those over a million euros.
Pending the outcome of the appeal, owners can go ahead and pay the tax on the amount they deem was correct.
The ministry held a seminar on Monday to brief experts about the evaluation.
As part of the bailout, the government was supposed to have updated real estate values by mid 2014.
However, it emerged that too many issues still needed clarification and so it was decided to use 1980s values once more and start using the new system in 2015.
The new evaluation was completed in less than a year using in situ inspections, satellite images, price analyses based on sales, cost of construction and other elements.
It also involved a mass computerised assessment in accordance with international standards and with the support of specialised software
Meanwhile, the government announced that the deadline to pay this year’s IPT was November 30.
Taxpayers will get a 15 per cent discount if the IPT is fully paid by October 31.
A 10 per cent penalty plus interest and other administrative fees will be charged if IPT is paid after November 30.

By George Psyllides
THE ENFORCEMENT of anti-money laundering (AML) measures is the exclusive responsibility of the Central Bank (CBC), the anti-money laundering unit MOKAS said on Monday.
MOKAS’ statement came in response to media reports that followed the US Treasury’s announcement that Tanzanian-based FBME Bank had been deemed a “primary money laundering concern”.
Following the US Treasury’s announcement, the CBC last week put the FBME under administration and suspended its operations.
Tanzania’s Central Bank followed suit, announcing last Friday that it had taken over the management of the lender.
Tanzania said it took control of FBME Bank because of the potential effect of the Cypriot move on the country’s own banking system.
It said FBME’s four branches in the east African country would remain open for business.
“The objective underlying this decision … is to ensure safety of customers’ deposits and safeguard the entire banking system,” it said in a statement.
MOKAS said the degree of enforcement of the measures is the exclusive authority of the regulator.
The unit only investigates specific suspicious transactions reported by the banks and the other countries’ AML units.
MOKAS said FBME has reported suspicious transactions and accounts have been frozen using a court order.
“However, MOKAS is not aware of all the transactions carried out by a bank nor does it check the enforcement of measures concerning the opening of accounts, client id, and so on,” the statement said.
MOKAS said it had received a notification from the US Treasury in the past expressing concern over the activities of FBME.
“After asking their permission, we conveyed these general concerns to the CBC, so that they are taken into consideration in their checks,” MOKAS said.
The unit added that no specific transactions were listed, nor had the CBC informed MOKAS later about any suspicious transaction.
Following its recent announcement, MOKAS asked the US Treasury for more information but no response has been received yet.
The US accused FBME, which though chartered in Tanzania operates primarily in Cyprus, of facilitating financial activity for transnational organised crime and Hezbollah.
FBME has denied the allegations, saying the US Treasury had compiled the report without its input.
The bank also claimed that the CBC’s action was a hostile takeover and that the authorities seemed to have forgotten that it took part in a quarter million euro bond issue last year as part of the island’s bailout.
FBME employees held a protest outside the CBC on Monday, against the regulator’s decision to resolve the lender.
The workers, who marched from the FBME offices nearby on Makarios Avenue, held placards that read: “One more betrayal,” “we are not for sale,” “Haven’t we helped you enough,” and “Throwing 400 families on the street.”
Feeling betrayed by the Cypriot authorities, FBME said last week that its “solvency and commitment to the Republic of Cyprus are a matter of public record, both before and after the crisis of 2013 during which the lender maintained its support of the country through a €240 million investment in short term treasury notes.
“This helped the Republic to meet its financial obligations while negotiating the MOU. It funded the Republic until it could be bailed-out.”

SALES of petroleum products dropped by 4.4 per cent between January and June compared to the corresponding period in 2013, the Statistical Service announced on Monday.
The total stocks of petroleum products at the end of June recorded an increase of 9.5 per cent compared to the previous month, reaching 70,158 tonnes.
A rise was also recorded in the provisions of aviation kerosene and gasoil for marine use, as well as in the sales of heavy fuel oil and motor gasoline.

By Jean Christou
CYPRUS WILL use its status as an EU member state, and will reach out to other countries involved in the peace talks to exert more influence on Turkey, President Nicos Anastasiades said yesterday.
Anastasiades was speaking after a 90-minute meeting with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras in Athens during a two-day visit to the Greek capital.
The focus of the visit is mainly the stalled Cyprus negotiations with Anastasiades briefing Samaras on recent developments. Although both made short statements after the meeting, neither accepted questions from the media.
Samaras limited himself to saying that not only was there no progress on the Cyprus talks, but there was now confirmation that serious differences existed between the two sides.
He referred to the refusal of the Turkish Cypriot side to accept the EU acquis, and its constant rejection of suggestions made by Anastasiades during the process when it comes to confidence building measures or even procedural issues.
In his brief statement, Anastasiades said: “We will achieve more from our presence in the EU in order to strengthen our positions, and we will reach out to other countries which are involved in the process and which can exert influence on Turkey.”
The talks process ground to a halt for the summer last Thursday after what was diplomatically termed a ”difficult” meeting by some, and all-out failure by others.
On Friday the government rubbished Turkish Cypriot reports that Anastasiades had banged his fists on the table, threw his glasses down and stormed out.
Alleged histrionics aside, the four-hour meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu did not end well, with the two sides failing to agree on the way forward.
Eroglu reportedly rejected three proposals by Anastasiades to document and lock down convergences between the two sides before entering phase three of the talks, the give-and-take process. He also reportedly refused to accept the so-called ‘Downer document’, which lists convergences reached between 2008 and 2012 under the Demetris Christofias government.
For now the talks are on hold. The next leader’s meeting has been set for September 2.

By Angelos Anastasiou
THE INTERNAL Revenue Department (IRD) has no mechanism to implement a clause in the immovable property tax (IPT) law which aimed to address the question of who should pay tax on properties sold without title deeds because it is unable to apportion blame for non-issuance, daily Politis reported on Monday.
On July 10, the House voted an amendment to the IPT law that removed the tax obligation on sold properties from developers and placing it on buyers, with the deed of sale serving as sufficient proof of ownership transfer in the absence of title deeds. According to the law, the only evidence a developer needs is a list of properties sold as at the start of each year to the IRD, along with a deed of sale for each. Without these, the developer remains liable for any IPT payable.
A subsequent sub-clause in the legislation stipulated that the above do not apply where the legal owner – the developer – is deemed responsible for the non-issuance of title deeds, as in the case of properties sold while encumbered with a mortgage already taken out on it. According to this provision, such developers remain liable for any IPT due.
The problem, Politis said, is that neither the IRD, nor the Land Registry – responsible for issuing title deeds – has a blame-apportioning mechanism for delays in issuing title deeds. Additionally, the law does not specify criteria that determine who bears responsibility in this context.
It is understood that failure to implement this provision will result in thousands of cases brought before the courts as both the homeowners and the developers who sold the properties refusing to pay the tax.
The amending bill had been voted into law near-unanimously – the Greens’ Giorgos Perdikis being the sole dissenter – as a compromise, levying IPT on properties based on 1980 values after opposition parties rejected a government bill that applied a much lower tax levy on 2013 values.
As the old law had placed the tax burden on property owners – with title deeds as the sole criterion for determining ownership – protection to developers from undue IPT payable was deemed necessary by deputies when they were told by Land Registry officials that some 40,000 title deeds had been issued but not collected by buyers who could not afford the transfer fees.
Property developers are now faced with an August 25 deadline for the submission of an exemption application to the IRD, in which they must list all the properties they sold but technically still own.
Meanwhile, the IRD said that, while it is unable to assign responsibility for the non-issuance of title deeds, it will follow its original schedule of mailing IPT-due notices to property owners.

A CASE of fraud through the sale of religious icons under false pretences is being investigated, police said on Monday.
Police said that shortly after noon on Monday, members of the crime prevention squad, visited a Nicosia coffee-shop to investigate reports that a scam was about to take place.
The officers established that a 28-year-old man had made an appointment with the coffee-shop manager to push the sale of a religious icon, claiming that the proceeds from the sale would be donated to unfortunate children.
The undercover officers then revealed their identities to the 28-year-old, who was taken to Nicosia CID for further questioning.
In a search of his vehicle following his written consent, receipt booklets and a number of icons were found and confiscated as evidence.

By Angelos Anastasiou

Citizens’ Alliance leader Giorgos Lillikas on Tuesday denied a report in daily Politis that he was not content with a Council of Ministers decision from last week to second two police officers for his protection and subsequently requested an extra two.

Tuesday’s Politis ran a story citing police sources who claimed that following last week’s cabinet decision Lillikas asked for two more officers, one with the rank of sergeant.

The request was denied by the police ‘security committee’ – the competent body approving secondments to protect individuals.

Party leaders, government ministers, former House presidents and former presidents of the Republic have traditionally been assigned police officers for their protection by virtue of political decision.

Former president Demetris Christofias and former House president Vasos Lyssarides have both been assigned eight officers each, more than any former official.

The paper reported that each seconded officer costs taxpayers approximately €2,500 per month.

Politis’ piece prompted a statement by the Greens, who deemed the practice of offering protection to incumbent and former political officials “obsolete and outdated.”

“It is provocative and unacceptable that Cypriot taxpayers, who have entered a pitiless storm of financial destruction, are forced to pay from their meagre income for the protection of political leaders and former presidents, as if we live in other times,” the statement said. “The government must immediately stop this senseless spending when it cuts pensions and allowances and employees’ incomes have been slashed.”

But Lillikas promptly issued a categorical denial that he had requested the protection of the two initial officers, let alone the two additional ones.

“The report is completely baseless,” he said in a written statement. “I did not ask for two, let alone two additional, officers to guard me. Following some incidents, the president took the initiative and informed me that I would have two officers like other parliamentary leaders.”

Lillikas said that the report focused on what a seconded officer costs the taxpayer but failed to touch on the issue of security.

“Mytakeisthatthe state offers, as it should, security for officials,” he said. “If two officers suffice to adequately protect ministers, then the same should apply for parliamentary leaders. Bywhatlogicdosomeleadershave two, others four or six, or yet others eight?”

Lillikas signed off his remarks with a reference to the issue of high-ranking police officers being assigned to political leaders. While he denied asking for a police sergeant in his security detail, he claimed that “in some cases” sergeants and inspectors are seconded to such posts.

“How do they justify focusing on me instead of those who have them?” he wondered.

Later on Tuesday, House President Yiannakis Omirou also weighed in.

“These matters are handled by the executive branch of government,” he said. “They are security matters, in which we should not interfere.”

He said that upon taking over as House President, he personally saw that his security detail was reduced.

“Let each of us lead by example,” Omirou said.

By Benjamin Kang Lim and Ben Blanchard

China’s Communist Party said on Tuesday it had launched a corruption investigation into former domestic security chief Zhou Yongkang, one of the country’s most influential politicians of the last decade, in a case that has its origins in a party power struggle.

Zhou, 71, is by far the highest-profile figure caught up in President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on corruption. Indeed, Zhou is the most senior Chinese official to be ensnared in a graft scandal since the party swept to power in 1949.

He was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee – China’s apex of power – and held the post of security tsar until he retired in 2012.

A brief statement released to coincide with a regular party meeting said Zhou was being investigated for suspected “serious disciplinary violations”, the usual euphemism for corruption, although it could also imply additional wrongdoing.

“Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping reached a consensus to deal with Zhou Yongkang for violating party discipline,” a source with ties to the leadership told Reuters, referring to President Xi and his predecessors.

The source said Zhou had been accused of corruption involving family members and accepting bribes to promote officials.

“Not all charges against Zhou would be made public,” added the source, who requested anonymity to avoid repercussions for speaking to a foreign reporter without authorisation.

Zhou, who was last seen at an alumni celebration at the China University of Petroleum on Oct. 1, could not be reached for comment. It was not clear if he has a lawyer.

Reuters reported in early December that Zhou had been placed under virtual house arrest after Xi ordered a special task force to look into corruption accusations against him.

Reuters also reported in March that Chinese authorities had seized assets worth at least 90 billion yuan ($14.56 billion) from family members and associates of Zhou. More than 300 of Zhou’s relatives, political allies and staff had been taken into custody or questioned, sources who had been briefed on the investigation told Reuters.

Zhou’s son Zhou Bin had also been arrested, the influential Chinese magazine Caixin reported on its website after news of the investigation into his father had been made public.

POWER STRUGGLE

But Zhou Yongkang’s case is also about power.

Sources with ties to the Chinese leadership have previously told Reuters that Xi has been determined to bring down Zhou for allegedly plotting appointments to retain influence ahead of the 18th Party Congress in November 2012, when Xi took over the party.

Zhou had nominated Bo Xilai, a charismatic politician with leadership ambitions, to succeed him as domestic security chief and had tried to orchestrate the younger man’s promotion to the Standing Committee, the sources have said.

Bo later fell in a divisive scandal following accusations his wife murdered a British businessman in 2011. Bo’s wife was convicted over the killing and Bo himself was jailed for corruption and abuse of power last year.

Xi has made fighting pervasive graft a central theme of his administration and has promised to go after “tigers” – or senior officials – as well as those of lower rank who are implicated in corruption.

In ordering the investigation into Zhou, Xi has broken with an unwritten understanding that members of the Politburo Standing Committee would not come under such scrutiny after retirement.

The investigation shows that Xi, who became president in March 2013, has consolidated power and has the confidence to manage any internal rift that may ensue, experts said.

“He has taken down many others, and now he has reached the point where he can take down such a major figure,” said historian and independent political commentator Zhang Lifan. “Behind taking down tigers, there lies a power struggle.”

It was unclear if Zhou would eventually be indicted.

“If that happens, there won’t be a high-profile trial like Bo Xilai’s,” the source with ties to the leadership said, referring to the purged party boss of the southwestern metropolis of Chongqing, whose trial the government provided regularly updated – though likely censored – transcripts for.

Any trial could also be some way off. Zhou would first have to be expelled from the party and then have formal criminal charges filed against him, which could take several months or longer.

GROWING CRACKDOWN

During his five-year tenure as security chief, Zhou oversaw the police force, civilian intelligence apparatus, paramilitary police, judges and prosecutors. Under his watch, government spending on domestic security exceeded the defence budget.

But Zhou became too powerful, sources with ties to the leadership have said, and that position was downgraded during a reshuffle in 2012 in which his successor was made a member of the Politburo, a 25-member body which reports to the Standing Committee.

The announcement of the investigation shows that Xi’s anti-corruption crackdown is gathering steam.

Last month, the party said it would court-martial one of its most senior former military officers, Xu Caihou, also on charges of corruption.

The party has already gone after several of Zhou’s proteges, including Jiang Jiemin, who was the top regulator of state-owned enterprises for just five months until last September when state media said he was under investigation for graft.

Jiang was previously chairman of state-owned China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) – Zhou’s power base – as well as one of its subsidiaries, oil-and-gas behemoth PetroChina . Zhou served as CNPC’s general manager from 1996-1998, having risen through the ranks.

PRAISE FOR XI

Zhou joined the Politburo Standing Committee in 2007 while also heading the central Political and Legal Affairs Committee, a sprawling body that oversees law-and-order policy. He quickly earned the enmity of Chinese dissidents.

“Zhou has always been an enemy of the people,” said Hu Jia, one of China’s most prominent human rights activists.

“But Xi Jinping’s investigation of Zhou isn’t for human rights or to oppose corruption. This is a power struggle.”

China’s popular Twitter-like service Weibo, where for months mention of Zhou’s name has been scrubbed by censors, lit up after the announcement of the investigation, with many praising Xi’s decisiveness, though Zhou was never a popular figure in the country.

“President Xi, the entire country supports you in this,” wrote one user.

After years in the oil industry and related ministries, Zhou went on to run the teeming and huge southwestern province of Sichuan, before being named public security minister in 2002.

There, Zhou made waves early on, taking the unprecedented step of sacking hundreds of police to stamp out a drinking culture, but later endeared himself to the force by creating a more professional, more powerful body.

Still, his time in charge of domestic security saw a huge swelling in the number of “mass incidents” – China’s euphemism for public protests – fuelled by frustration at a yawning wealth gap and official corruption, despite the fact the party cracked down hard on dissent.

By Michael Georgy

Islamic State, the al Qaeda spin-off that seized wide swathes of Iraq almost unopposed last month, has released a video warning Iraqi soldiers who may still have some fight in them that they risk being rounded up en masse and executed.

Iraq’s army unravelled when the Sunni insurgents staged a lightning advance through northern towns and cities, building on territory their comrades captured earlier in the west of the country, a major OPEC oil producer.

Thousands of soldiers fled, prompting Iraq’s top cleric to call on compatriots to take up arms against the radical faction that has declared a mediaeval-style caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria and aims to march on the capital Baghdad.

The 30-minute video clip, circulated during the holiday that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, sheds light on what tactics the Islamic State is likely to employ as it presses ahead with its campaign.

After sweeping through a town with quick-hit raids, the militants are filmed standing over dozens of terrified, handcuffed Iraqi soldiers.

One fighter mocks a soldier for wearing civilian clothes over his uniform out of fear of being identified and killed. He pleads for mercy, to no avail.

Then dozens of soldiers are led to a sandy desert pit. They are executed one by one – bullets from AK-47 assault rifles pumped into their heads.

Not satisfied that all are dead, an Islamic State fighter makes one last round, opening fire again, one by one.

Others are led to the edge of a river. Each one is shot in the head with a pistol and then shoved in, the executioner standing in a large pool of blood.

PROMISES OF PARADISE

The mission begins with an Islamic State commander firing up militants with promises that paradise in heaven awaits them if they take the city of Samarra, which is 100 km north of Baghdad and would be their next target in a southward push.

He tells them that God “made us proud when he permitted us to go to jihad”. It was not clear where or when the video was filmed.

The footage features night-vision sequences, then shows fighters moving into a city in flat-bed trucks, and US-made Humvees seized during their surge through the north last month.

The Islamic State convoys filmed include small tanks and heavy machine guns transported on trailers.

Some fighters are on foot, darting towards government buildings on sandy roads. As the Islamic State gains ground small units in trucks pull up beside vehicles during daytime and open fire on passengers who lose control of their vehicles.

Several militants walk up to a van and empty their AK-47s through the windows, to make sure the job is done.

Then the camera focuses on Iraqi security forces in watchtowers. One by one they are picked off by Islamic State snipers, who seem to avoid heavy clashes and rely instead on quick, small operations combined with psychological warfare.

An insurgent can be heard weeping in joy as he declares that Samarra now belongs to the group.

Residents and security sources say Baghdad Shi’ite Muslim-led government remains in control of Samarra so this footage may have come from another city or town seized by the Islamic State.

Nevertheless, it illustrates the thinking of the Islamic State, which aims to redraw the Middle East map although it appears to have paused its territorial thrust for now in favour of consolidating recent gains north of Samarra.

On Tuesday, Islamic State militants blew up a strategic bridge connecting Samarra to the town of Tikrit to the north, severing the main route and a tunnel beneath it that was used by Iraqi military forces, a senior local police official said.

Iraqi government troops have tried but failed to recapture Tikrit from the insurgents.

Islamic State’s sudden rise has worsened Sunni-Shi’ite sectarian tensions in Iraq, raising fears that the country will relapse into the dark days of civil war that peaked in 2006-2007.

Shi’ite militias now rival the government army in their ability to confront the Sunni insurgents.

After the soldiers are executed, the Islamic State video shows fighters blowing up Shi’ite shrines or bulldozing mosques, as well as residents of the town welcoming fighters.

By George Psyllides

Cyprus Airways (CY) needs a strategic investor to survive in the long run, Communications Minister Marios Demetriades said on Tuesday, a day after Ryanair said it was not particularly interested in the troubled national carrier due to its legacy issues.

Ryanair was among nearly 20 companies which last week submitted a non-binding expression of interest in Cyprus Airways, now controlled by the government.

At least five are involved in air transport.

The process is a preliminary step towards any eventual binding offer by any bidder.

“The only way for one to determine whether there is real interest was to proceed with the procedure we have started,” Demetriades said.

“If there is no interest in the end, we must think what the next step is. But the company needs a strategic investor to be able to survive in the long term.”

The government will now be moving on to the second part of the procedure where interested parties will be asked to provide detailed proposals.

“Let’s allow the procedure to run its course and let’s hope someone will be found who would want to invest in the company,” the minister said.

On Monday, Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary said the company was not particularly interested in CY which has huge legacy issues: pension scheme, historic losses and may have to repay about €100 million in legal state aid

Ryanair had submitted an expression of interest in the carrier because the Cypriot government had asked them to, he added.

Demetriades said later that the it was not something the government had asked. “We encouraged them to do so if they were really interested.”

CY has struggled to survive against cheaper competitors and has been loss-making for years despite several attempts at a turnaround.

It is also under scrutiny by the European Commission over a €31.3 million capital increase in early 2013, and a €73 million rescue package by the Cypriot state in 2012 to establish whether it violated state aid rules.