EVERYONE in Cyprus pays lip service to the democratic ideal of rule of law and its corollary equality before the law. But as with so many things there is a big gap separating the theory and the practice. We were reminded of this gap a few days ago, when four prominent and wealthy businessmen from Limassol were released from prison, by presidential pardon, after serving a few days of their 30-day sentence.

CYPRUS’ Orthodox Church leader Archbishop Chrysostomos took centre stage yesterday to welcome Pope Benedict to the “Island of the Saints and Martyrs” and to the first ‘Church of the nations’, founded by Apostles Barnabas, Paul and Mark.

Before launching an all-out attack on the Turkish occupation, Chrysostomos spoke about Christianity. He underlined the historical and religious significance of the presence of the early Christian apostles in Paphos, which was where Saint Paul became the leader of their mission to spread the word of Jesus.

OUTSIDE the small Paphos church all eyes turned towards one young girl as she arrived with her parents and entered the chapel yesterday.

‘CYPRIOTS CAN’T have it both ways, wanting UN involvement to set the basis of the talks on the one hand, and refusing arbitration or mediation on the other,’ was UN Special Adviser Alexander Downer’s parting message from Larnaca Airport yesterday.

Downer noted the process was a Cypriot one and was not guided by the UN, so it was up to Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots and their respective leaders to decide whether they wanted a solution or not.

Before leaving, the Australian diplomat, who will brief the UN Security Council next week in New York, read out a statement agreed by the two sides which purports to overcome the latest impasse in the talks.

AS EXPECTED, President Demetris Christofias will veto ‘populist’ legislation giving the children of female refugees the right to be classed as refugees, the government said yesterday.

The bill creating a whole new costly class of refugees in Cyprus, was approved by parliament on Thursday despite warnings from the government that it would derail public finances with the bill coming to as much as €100 million annually.

Yesterday, the government said the bill was unconstitutional since Parliament has no right to take decisions burdening the state budget.

“The President of the Republic is obliged to defend the constitution and the separation of powers,” government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said. “Due to this he will refer the law to parliament.”

A 14-MONTH-OLD girl was last night fighting for her life, after being run over by a bulldozer working next to her grandma’s house.

According to the police last night, for reasons that still haven’t been clarified, the toddler had been in the care of her grandmother when she wandered off into a field next to the house. At that time, a man who was busy clearing out the field with his bulldozer and was clearly unaware of the child’s presence, reversed over the 14-month-old.

She was taken to Paphos General Hospital, where she was put on life support and rushed off to Nicosia General Hospital due to the seriousness of her condition.

Doctors last night described her condition as “extremely critical”.

CYPRUS’ Foreign Affairs Minister, Marcos Kyprianou, was in Israel yesterday to discuss increasing aid to Gaza, as the last of ‘freedom flotilla’ ships is expected to deliver essential construction and school materials this morning.

The diplomatic meeting is part of an initiative by President Demetris Christofias, together with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, to investigate ways of increasing humanitarian aid to Gaza, after he was widely criticised for banning activists from leaving Cyprus to join last weeks’ flotilla.

Government Spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said the Foreign Minister Kyprianou, as a presidential envoy, was in Israel within a framework of meetings with countries of the Middle East.

A BRITISH serviceman in Paphos is raising funds for an abandoned racehorse he rescued a year ago, before he returns home in September.

Kevin Vickers, who has previously rescued a number of stray dogs and cats, found the horse at his home and spent a year and over €6,000 nurturing the horse back to health.

Vickers said: “I arrived home to find a horse that had been dumped at my house hours from death. Lucky, as we subsequently named him, being lucky to be alive, was painfully thin and had horrific injuries.

Little is known about Lucky’s former life or past owners, aside for their shocking disregard for his welfare.

A 43-YEAR-OLD Nicosia man was yesterday remanded for eight days in connection with attempted murder.

The suspect was arrested following his involvement in a fracas outside a Pallouriotissa bar during the early hours of Thursday.

Six other men were arrested in connection with the same case and later released. Four were Greek Pontian, one was a Greek national and the sixth was a Greek Cypriot.

The 43-year-old man was the driver of a pick-up truck who tried to ram a group of people including a police officer.