National Guard to parade T-80 tanks to dispel fuel furore

By Charlie Charalambous

THE NATIONAL Guard’s entire arsenal of Russian T-80 tanks will be paraded before the media today in an attempt to prove that the fuel fiasco was no more than a storm in a tea cup.

Not only that, but President Clerides will be at hand to inspect the tanks in person and give them his seal of approval.

Government spokesman Costas Serezis announced the tank’s very public appearance during yesterday’s briefing.

“The President will attend military exercises in Kalo Chorio Larnaca tomorrow at 6pm… he will have the opportunity to witness the readiness and capabilities of the tanks,” Serezis said.

He explained that the exercises were part of the National Guard’s efforts to be battle-ready, as well as an opportunity to put paid to bad publicity.

“After the exercise, the President will inspect the T-80s which will be taking part,” the spokesman said.

However, when pressed about why the tanks would be paraded before the media, Serezis confessed it was “no coincidence” that the fuel fiasco had played a major role.

“It was a scheduled exercise but it’s also about showing the public and the troops — as we have emphasised many time before — that the tanks are battle ready.”

A string of front-page stories have claimed that the tanks performance had been badly impaired because the wrong fuel was used.

Defence Minister Yiannakis Chrysostomis declared the National Guard was to blame because it had been ordering the wrong fuel for the past three years.

The minster has called an internal investigation to determine responsibility for the fiasco, but insists no lasting damage was done to the tanks — which he described as being in optimum condition.

The House Defence Committee met Chrysostomis yesterday to discuss the issue, and while it was happy about the condition of the tanks, it will hold its own investigation into the fuel fiasco.

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