By Martin Hellicar
THE GOVERNMENT is to hold off on new armaments purchases for a “reasonable time” to give the UN a chance to implement its call for reductions of troops and armaments on the island, President Clerides has stated.
But this does not represent another concession in the wake of the S-300 climbdown, the government was keen to stress yesterday.
In a letter sent to UN Secretary general Kofi Annan on January 7, and widely leaked yesterday, Clerides promises to postpone the signing of fresh armaments deals – but only temporarily.
Recent reports have suggested the government is considering buying short- range Russian TOR-M1 missiles to replace the S-300 long-range ground-to-air missiles – which were last month redirected to Crete.
“In view of the fact that certain agreements for the purchase of arms and military equipment necessary for the defence of the Cyprus Republic are ready for signature while others are waiting completion, I cannot postpone indefinitely their completion,” Clerides’s letter states.
“I, therefore, hope that I will within a reasonable time hear from Your Excellency that the other side has accepted in toto and not selectively operative paragraphs 4 and 5 of Security Council resolution 1218.”
The resolution, adopted on December 22 last year, called on Annan to secure a staged process for the reduction of troops and armaments on the island. It paved the way for the government to bow to international pressure and cancel deployment of the Russian S-300 missiles on December 29 last year.
In his letter, Clerides notes that his decision not to bring the S-300s shows his “readiness to comply with resolution 1218”.
Both Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides and government spokesman Christos Stylianides were at pains yesterday to stress that Clerides was not promising an indefinite freeze on arms purchases.
“The President does not refer to an arms freeze. The President proves his good will to adhere to the letter and the spirit of the resolution,” Cassoulides said.
“The President is not speaking of a freeze on armaments. The President is indicating his good intention to comply with the resolutions,” Stylianides echoed during his daily press briefing. Neither man stated how long the government would wait before going ahead with fresh armaments purchases.
“We did not impose any time limits. We do not send ultimatums,” Cassoulides said.
Stylianides expressed regret that the letter had been leaked.
“The government did not want this letter publicised at this specific time, for reasons that I don’t want to analyse right now.”
The leader of governing Disy, Nicos Anastassiades, welcomed the letter as a “good will” measure.
But the spokesman for main opposition party Akel, Andreas Christou, said the letter represented a U-turn for the government.
During his 1993 election campaign, Clerides had staunchly opposed a similar UN proposal for arms reductions, Christou claimed.
“We have accepted something that we resisted for years,” the Akel man said.
He added that Clerides had never informed the National Council of his intention to send a letter to Annan, a statement confirmed later in the day by Diko leader Spyros Kyprianou.
Stylianides said Clerides had, before the leak, intended to inform party leaders of the letter.
Former Defence Minister Yiannakis Omirou, who resigned in protest at the S- 300 redirection, said there should be no freeze on armaments purchases unless the Turkish side first agreed to demilitarisation.
The decision to cancel deployment of the S-300 missiles in Cyprus has sparked a new flurry in diplomatic efforts to break the deadlock on the Cyprus problem. UN representative Dame Anne Hercus was last night meeting British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook on her way to top level consultations in New York, while British envoy Sir David Hannay is due in Cyprus later this month.
