US base report blown out of the water

A REPORT that Limassol port would be used as a US navy base for the Mediterranean was blown out of the water yesterday by the US and Cyprus governments.

A local media report suggested that the US navy’s 6th fleet had agreed with the Ports Authority — with the government’s blessing — to use Limassol port as a base.

But US embassy spokeswoman Judith Baroody said yesterday no such agreement existed.

“The US embassy in Nicosia has no knowledge of any agreement between the US government and the government of Cyprus about using Limassol port or any other port in Cyprus as a maintenance and supplies depot,” Baroody told the Cyprus Mail.

Government spokesman Christos Stylianides echoed the same sentiments during his briefing yesterday.

“There was an approach three years on such a matter, it did not go any further and the matter remains there,” said Stylianides, who added: “there is no agreement.”

Cyprus Ports Authority chairman Costas Erotocritou did confirm that the US fleet in Naples had approach him to enquire about using Limassol as a supplies and repairs stop, but not as a base.

Although the US embassy is annoyed by the newspaper report, it said there might be some confusion over what was already happening on the ground.

The US 6th fleet does occasionally visit Cyprus for supplies while it is in the Eastern Mediterranean, Baroody said.

“To date in 1998, two US navy ships have visited Cyprus and used commercial and docking facilities at Limassol port.”

She added: “the US navy employs a Cypriot husbanding agent to provide support such as fuel during these visits, which last two to three days.”

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.