Matsakis slams bombing of civilians

DIKO Deputy Marios Matsakis yesterday condemned the US and British bombing campaign in Afghanistan for killing innocent civilians and children.

His statement joins a rising tide of criticism against the military strikes and their growing list of civilian casualties.

Matsakis yesterday called on Washington and London to stop bombing non- military targets and using weapons of high indiscriminate killing potential.

” There is no justification and no excuse for taking life or causing serious injury to even a single child; be it American, British, Afghan or any other nationality,”his statement read.

The deputy faxed a copy of his statement to the press, to the President of the House of Representatives Demetris Christofias, Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides, US Ambassador Donald Bandler, British High Commissioner Lyn Parker, EU delegation head Donato Chiarini and the head of the UNHCR in Cyprus Christina Folkelius.

He called for the urgent and adequate provision of food, medicines, medical care and shelter.

” As a doctor, I cannot just sit back and watch on television the daily reports of killings of innocent Afghan civilians,”Matsakis wrote.

His colleague DISY deputy and doctor Eleni Theoharous is currently working as a doctor in northern Afghanistan, dispensing emergency medical aid and performing urgent operations.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.