The European Court of Human Rights held an appeal hearing Wednesday into the case of nine Cyprus nationals who went missing in 1974 during Turkish military operations that separated the north of the island.

Cypriot President Demetris Christofias voiced support on Wednesday for Moscow`s plans for a new European security pact during talks with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow.

NICOSIA, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat said on Thursday he had presented UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon with a package of measures to build confidence between the island's divided communities.

Talat said the proposals included 'military measures' as well as other steps to bring Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots closer together.

Among the measures was the opening of a sixth crossing point across the UN-patrolled buffer zone that divides the island, he said.

NICOSIA, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - Cyprus' justice minister on Thursday sacked the governor of the Mediterranean island's only prison and suspended four wardens over breaches which allowed two high-security prisoners escape.

The minister, Sophocles Sophocleous, told reporters that prison governor Michalis Hadjidemetriou had been sacked and four wardens suspended from duty over Monday's breakout.

Three non-permanent staff at the prison also faced disciplinary measures, he said.

NICOSIA, Oct 17, 2007 (AFP) - Cyprus tourist arrivals edged 1.1 percent in the first nine months of 2007 after a 6.4 percent hike in September, official figures showed on Wednesday.

The Mediterranean island welcomed 315,437 tourists last month compared with 296,532 visitors in September 2006. That took arrivals for the first nine months to 1.97 million from 1.95 million a year earlier.

Arrivals from Britain -- the island's biggest holiday market -- increased by 4.7 percent last month. The number from Russia grew 43.9 percent and from France by 35.5 percent.

NICOSIA, Oct 15, 2007 (AFP) - A new security breach at Cyprus's only prison allowed a convicted sex murderer and another man on trial for murder to escape the complex in the first such breakout in 15 years, officials said on Monday.

A police manhunt was launched after warders discovered the disappearance of Turkish Cypriot Panicos Netzadi, 32, serving life for the brutal sex murder of a Slovakian waitress, and Georgian Greek Odysseas Kalanides, 28, on trial for the killing of a Russian woman whom he tied and gagged during a robbery.

NICOSIA, Oct 12, 2007 (AFP) - Cyprus on Friday voiced its disappointment over the start of a ferry service between Syria and the Turkish occupied part of the divided island despite its protests to Damascus against such a move.

'We express our regret that a route has begun at a time when we find ourselves in a dialogue with the Syrian government,' government spokesman Vasilis Palmas told reporters.

'This certainly doesn't help create a desirable climate we are striving for in this dialogue,' he added.

NICOSIA, Oct 12, 2007 (AFP) - David, a Congolese who has been an 'illegal' in Cyprus since 2005, paces each morning up and down in front of Nicosia's historic Venetian walls waiting to be picked up as a day labourer.

'This is not the Europe that I imagined,' he sighed after several hours of waiting in vain, ready to do any job for a day's wages.

'For me, Cyprus was a stepping stone to France or Belgium, but I'm stuck here without work, without any future. This is a real prison,' said the young French-speaker.

NICOSIA, Oct 11, 2007 (AFP) - The Cyprus parliament on Thursday unanimously approved a wide-ranging 121 million pound (294.4 million dollar) benefits and tax relief package aimed at improving living standards and closing the gap between rich and poor.

The package, including higher tax breaks and cheaper heating fuel, was unanimously passed by parliament.

The windfall for Cypriot consumers was never in any doubt as politicians were unlikely to vote down a populist package with the 2008 presidential elections looming.

DAMASCUS, Oct 11, 2007 (AFP) - A ferry service between Syria and the Turkish occupied northern part of Cyprus began with a first planned regular sailing from Latakia to Famagusta on Thursday, a Syrian maritime official said.

'A ferry did sail today between Latakia and Famagusta,' Tahsin Shehade, in the Syrian port town, told AFP.

'The link by ferry between the two port cities of Famagusta and Latakia is now assured every Monday and Thursday,' the official said, adding: 'This is aimed at promoting tourism between the two countries.'

NICOSIA, Oct 11, 2007 (AFP) - Cyprus is to go to the polls on February 17, Interior Minister Christos Patsalides announced on Thursday, launching the countdown to a five-yearly presidential election that is set to be one of the most keenly contested in the island's history.

If a run-off is necessary, it will be held the following Sunday, Patsalides added.

He said that for the first time Turkish Cypriots living in the government-controlled south of the island will be able to vote for the president alongside Greek Cypriots.

KYRENIA, Cyprus, Oct 11, 2007 (AFP) - More than 1,000 tonnes of sewage poured into the sea in this picturesque northern Cyprus town after a wall collapsed at a waterfront sewage treament plant, officials said on Thursday.

They said the wall collapsed on Wednesday but that sewage was continuing to pour into the sea 24 hours later at a rate of 42 tonnes an hour.

The Turkish Cypriot authorities, who administer the north of the island, set up a crisis centre and warned residents and tourists not to swim or fish in the harbour, they said.

NICOSIA, Oct 9, 2007 (AFP) - Gunmen in Cyprus have killed 46 threatened red-footed migrating falcons simply for target practice, bird conservation officials on the Mediterranean island charged on Tuesday.

Birdlife Cyprus manager Martin Hellicar said farmers on Friday found the pellet-riddled birds lying in a tight cluster on a citrus farm west of the coastal resort of Limassol.

Another six birds were found shot but still clinging on to life.

NICOSIA, Oct 9, 2007 (AFP) - An EU court ruling for Cyprus to cull as many as a quarter of its goat and sheep population infected with scrapie could drive many farmers to ruin, officials warned on Tuesday.

Agriculture Minister Fotis Fotiou said the EU First Instance Court ruled last month in favour of a French appeal that effectively prohibits human consumption of scrapie-infected herds.

That means Cyprus authorities would have to slaughter an estimated 116,000 scrapie-infected sheep and goats out of a total population of 430,000 animals.

ATHENS, Oct 6, 2007 (AFP) - A diver monitoring pollution from a sunken cruise ship near the Greek island of Santorini died in an accident on Saturday, the merchant marine ministry said.

The 44-year-old man, who was inspecting the wreck, is believed to have surfaced too quickly and apparently died from decompression sickness, a ministry source told AFP.

The diver was pronounced dead on arrival at the Santorini health centre, the ministry said in a statement.

NICOSIA, Oct 5, 2007 (AFP) - A wildcat strike by pilots of state-owned Cyprus Airways on Friday left around 2,000 passengers either stranded or scrambling to catch other flights.

The six-hour strike hit travellers to destinations including London, Frankfurt, Athens and Bucharest from 2:00 pm (1200 GMT). Seven Cyprus Airways flights from both the island's airports were affected.

Airline officials said arrangements were being made to find alternative flights for stranded passengers.

NICOSIA, Oct 5, 2007 (AFP) - A police sting on Friday netted five people accused of trying to peddle antiquities possibly dating back millenia to a foreign buyer for tens of thousands of euros.

'Five individuals were arrested for illegal possession and trafficking of antiquities, while a large number of ancient items of great value has been found,' Assistant Police Chief Andreas Iatropoulos told a news conference.

Three of the suspects were Cypriots. The other two were Greeks who were allegedly acting as intermediaries.

NICOSIA, Oct 4, 2007 (AFP) - Cyprus put a 3.85 billion pound (6.59 bln euros) 2008 budget before parliament on Thursday aimed at navigating the island through its adoption of the European single currency in January.

Finance Minister Michalis Sarris painted an upbeat economic outlook for the island as it prepares for eurozone entry at the start of the new fiscal year on January 1.

With projected revenues of 3.27 billion Cyprus pounds (5.59 bln euros), the draft budget foresees the fiscal deficit falling from one percent of GDP in 2007 to 0.5 percent next year.

NICOSIA, Oct 4, 2007 (AFP) - Turkey will continue to refuse trade privileges to Cyprus unless the EU eases the economic isolation of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said on Thursday.

'We will maintain our determined position on this issue,' Babacan, during a one-day visit to the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), told reporters after talks with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat.

'No one should expect unilateral steps from Turkey, there will be no such steps,' he said.

NICOSIA, Oct 3, 2007 (AFP) - Six Iranians, protesting the rejection of their applications for asylum in Cyprus, ended a four-day protest Wednesday evening and voluntarily climbed down from the top of their barricaded water tower at the island's sole prison, police said.

'The six have climbed down of their own volition and were taken away by ambulance for a routine check at hospital in view of them returning to the detention block,' a police spokesman told AFP.

NICOSIA, Oct 3, 2007 (AFP) - Six Iranians, protesting the rejection of their applications for asylum in Cyprus, remained barricaded on top of a water tower at the island's sole prison for a fourth straight day on Wednesday.

The six mounted the five metre (16 foot) high tower at Nicosia prison on Saturday accusing the government of breaking a previous promise to clarify their status.

BRUSSELS, Sept 27, 2007 (AFP) - The EU cannot dispense much-needed aid to the isolated Turkish community in northern Cyprus due to the island's political division, according to the European Commission.

'The legal, diplomatic and political context within which the Commission is operating ... poses a number of challenges and risks to the successful implementation' of the 259 million euros (367 million dollars) of aid destined for the north of the island, the EU's executive arm said in a report given to the EU parliament and member states last week.

NEW YORK, Sept 27, 2007 (AFP) - Washington has urged the United Nations to send a new special envoy to Cyprus to focus on peace talks on the divided Mediterranean island, a high-ranking US diplomat said.

'The US wants to have a new beginning with the government of Cyprus,' said Under Secretary of State for political affairs Nicholas Burns late Wednesday after meeting with Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos in New York where leaders from around the world have gathered for the UN General Assembly.

NICOSIA, Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) - Cyprus on Monday called on Syria to explain whether it has struck a deal with the Turkish Cypriots to run a ferry service to and from the breakaway Turkish-held north of the island.

Syria's charge d'affaires Nader Nader was summoned to the foreign ministry to give an official position on the sensitive issue.

The Cyprus government says opening such a ferry operation is illegal as the harbour of Famagusta in the north is a declared 'closed access point' to and from the republic.

NICOSIA, Sept 22, 2007 (AFP) - Turkish Cypriots in the occupied north of Cyprus on Saturday started a ferry run between the Mediterranean island and Syria in a bid to break their international isolation, local television said.

The ferry left from Famagusta in the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which is recognised only by Ankara, for the Syrian coastal town of Latakia, Turkish Cypriot public television said.

NICOSIA, Sept 21, 2007 (AFP) - The Cyprus Football Association is satisfied that world governing body FIFA ruled it was the only group to regulate the sport on the island despite Turkish Cypriots seeking separate recognition, officials said on Friday.

CFA and Turkish Cypriot officials held talks with both FIFA and European body UEFA in Zurich on Thursday in a bid to find a way around the political deadlock on the divided eastern Mediterranean island.

NICOSIA, Sept 21, 2007 (AFP) - Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos is to hold talks with UN chief Ban Ki-moon in New York on Sunday in a bid to revive the stalled peace process on the divided island, his spokesman said.

Papadopoulos will meet the secretary general three weeks before rival Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat hold talks with Ban on October 16 over the future of the island.

Nicosia views the two meetings as crucial in efforts to kick-start a peace process dormant for more than three years.

NICOSIA, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat will hold talks with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York on October 16 over the future of the divided island of Cyprus, his spokesman said on Thursday.

'We will convey the need for an urgent, comprehensive settlement as well our readiness to work in that direction,' Hasan Ercakica, told reporters in the Turkish-held sector of Nicosia.

Talat, the president of the the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), had requested the meeting in a letter he sent to Ban in August.

NICOSIA, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - Turkish President Abdullah Gul on Wednesday blamed the Greek Cypriots for the deadlock in efforts to reunify Cyprus, saying the conflict should not be used to hamper Turkey's EU membership bid.

'The Greek Cypriot side rejects a settlement based on political equality and power-sharing. It is undermining the solution efforts,' Gul said in a speech to the parliament of the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which only Ankara recognises.

NICOSIA, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - Cyprus issued a strong protest on Wednesday over Turkish President Abdullah Gul's 'illegal' visit to the Turkish-occupied north and his comments about a religious divide on the island.

Foreign Minister Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis told state radio that Cyprus would make 'strong representations' to the United Nations and the European Union over the visit and Gul's 'provocative' statements.

She said the issue would be the focus of contacts that Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos has in New York while attending the UN General Assembly.

NICOSIA, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) - Turkish President Abdullah Gul called on Tuesday for a settlement to the long-running division of Cyprus and urged the international community to honour its pledges of easing the isolation of the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state.

'Both Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) have proven their sincere desire for peace ...but there is more to be done,' Gul told reporters here after talks with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat.

NICOSIA, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) - Turkish President Abdullah Gul flew in to northern Cyprus on Tuesday for his first foreign visit since taking office, urging an end to the economic isolation of the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state.

Gul was accompanied by wife Hayrunnisa, making her first public appearance as first lady after having kept out of the spotlight amid strong objections by secularists to her Islamic headscarf.

NICOSIA, Sept 17, 2007 (AFP) - A Turkish man who broke into a Cyprus bank to steal from the ATM machine was found fast asleep on the floor by a cleaner who raised the alarm, Cypriot police said on Monday.

The cleaner stumbled over the suspect two hours before opening time and called in the police, who turned up to catch a tired man staggering out of the building.

Bank officials said the would-be robber tried to break into the ATM machine -- after entering the building through a window -- but could not crack the code to access the cash.

NICOSIA, Sept 17, 2007 (AFP) - Cyprus hopes to suspend the EU-mandated introduction of value added tax (VAT) on food, medicine and land sales by at least six months, Finance Minister Michalis Sarris said on Monday.

Cyprus is slated to impose an array of VAT hikes -- five percent on food and medicines, and a 15 percent tax on the sale of immovable property -- from January 1, 2008.

Restaurant meals are also due a VAT hike to 15 percent, up from the current eight percent.

NICOSIA, Sept 14, 2007 (AFP) - An arson attack early on Friday seriously damaged Cyprus offices being used by Greece's opposition socialist party in the run-up to this weekend's general election, police on the island said.

The temporary campaign offices in the Nicosia headquarters of Greek Cypriot socialist party EDEK suffered extensive damage to furniture and equipment, and the building's windows were blown out, police said.

Officers said they were treating the 3.20 am (0020 GMT) fire as arson as they had found gas canisters among the wreckage.

NICOSIA, Sept 6, 2007 (AFP) - Greek- and Turkish-Cypriot leaders remain miles apart on the road to peace after rare face-to-face talks exposed wide differences, the Cyprus government conceded on Thursday.

Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos disagreed sharply with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat in Wednesday's talks on the best way forward to resolve the island's 33-year division, government spokesman Vasilis Palmas said.

'It's clear there is a difference of opinion. That is a fact,' he told reporters.

NICOSIA, Sept 6, 2007 (AFP) - A shipwreck from the imperial Roman era, found off Cyprus, could lead to the discovery of vessels sunk in antiquity's largest naval engagement, the Battle of Salamis in 306 BC, said an official statement on Thursday.

'According to (historian) Diodoros, it was somewhere in the area where in 306 BC the Macedonian (King) Demetrius Poliorketes triumphed over Ptolemy of Egypt in one of the largest naval battles of antiquity,' said Cyprus' Antiquities Department.