Ex-spokesman Pasiardis dies

Former government spokesman and Defence minister Christodoulos Pasiardis died on Monday, aged 70.

A career diplomat since 1974, Pasiardis had served various roles during the presidencies of Spyros Kyprianou, heading the President’s diplomatic desk from 1984 to 1988, and Tassos Papadopoulos, as undersecretary to the President (2003-8), government spokesman (2006) and Defence minister (2007-8).

He had also served as Cyprus’ ambassador to Greece and Australia.

Pasiardis had spent his final months in hospital, battling a serious illness.

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.