Cassoulides working on demilitarisation plan

THE GOVERNMENT could put forward a plan under which Cyprus would be demilitarised in order to reduce tension, Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides said on Thursday.

Speaking in Washington, he said that, according to the plan, which is still at the preparatory stage, an international force would replace the armed forces in both the government-controlled and Turkish-occupied areas. The force would be on a UN mandate, he added, and could be partly funded with the money that Cyprus would then no longer need to spend on arms.

“If we withdraw the arms, it ends the arms race,” Cassoulides said.

He made no comment as to how the proposal was viewed by the US officials he is meeting during the week, saying that the main topic of discussion was the continuing effort to find a Cyprus solution.

Meanwhile in Nicosia yesterday, the acting president of the House Defence Committee, Antonis Karras, said that the committee would soon finish examining the 1999 Defence budget and that there were no proposals for any cuts.

He refused to discuss rumours about any possible new systems that Cyprus might order in place of the S-300s, but admitted that the goal was still to strengthen the armed forces.

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