Hannay bucking the London line, says Stylianides

By Charlie Charalambous

SIR DAVID Hannay’s comments on President Glafcos Clerides’ recent backing for UN resolution 1218 contradict the official line from London, Government spokesman Christos Stylianides said yesterday.

Britain’s special envoy caused a storm of protest after he allegedly implied on Thursday that Clerides’ January letter to Kofi Annan announcing a weapons purchasing freeze was a “tactical manoeuvre” to score points against Turkey.

Clerides called the remarks “offensive”, and refused to attend a dinner with Sir David on Friday at the home of British High Commissioner David Madden.

The government also took offence because its decision to divert deployment of the S-300 missiles was hailed by British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, only for Sir David to say that it could expect nothing in return for doing so.

“His comments were the opposite of what his superiors, Mr Blair and Mr Cook, have already stated,” Stylianides told Antenna radio yesterday.

But High Commission spokesman Piers Cazalet said yesterday Sir David’s comments did not contradict British policy on Cyprus.

“The things Hannay said represent British policy on Cyprus. What he said at the airport was misinterpreted and put out of context,” Cazalet told The Sunday Mail.

Clerides decided not to deploy the S-300s after UN resolution 1218 – calling for intense effort to solve the Cyprus problem and to reduce tension – was passed on December 23 and welcomed by the British Prime Minister.

Blair expressed his commitment to work for its full implementation.

Cook described the S-300 decision as a “significant contribution to international efforts to reduce tensions in the region”.

When Sir David was asked on Thursday whether the letter to Annan warranted a response from Ankara he said: “This is a tactical way of proceeding which I do not think will get us very far.”

Although local party Edek is calling for Sir David to be sacked as Britain’s special envoy, Cazalet believes this latest storm soon blow over.

“I don’t think this latest incident has harmed Cyprus-British relations. There is a history of good relations with the government built up over the years and that will continue,” he said yesterday.

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.