
    
[01] President Clerides attends Papandreou's funeral
[02] London auctioneers ''ready to be helpful'' on stolen
         antiquity
[03] US Congress impatient with Turkish occupation, says
         Gilman





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1000:CYPPRESS:01 
 
[01] President Clerides attends Papandreou's funeral



    Nicosia, Jun 26 (CNA) -- President Glafcos Clerides left
early today for Athens to attend the funeral of former Greek
Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou, later today.
    President Clerides is accompanied by Foreign Minister Alecos
Michaelides. He is due back this evening.
    President of the House of Representatives Spyros Kyprianou
went to Athens yesterday while other party leaders and
representatives are travelling to the Greek capital to attend
the funeral service.
    Meanwhile, flags at government buildings are flying today at
half-mast while government offices will close half an hour
earlier today, at 1400 local time.
 CNA MCH/GP/1996
ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1600 :CYPPRESS:02
 
[02] London auctioneers ''ready to be helpful'' on stolen antiquity



    Nicosia, Jun 26 (CNA) -- While the Cyprus government is
taking all the necessary steps to have a stolen ancient item
withdrawn from a London auction, the auctioneers appear willing
to withdraw it if appropriate proof is provided.
    Georgina Whiteman, of the antiquities department of
 ''Bonhams'' auctioneers in London, told CNA today she ''wishes
to be helpful'' and added ''if we have proof and we feel the
description we get from you (Cyprus) corresponds to the item we
have, then we shall take a position on that.''
    If not, she explained, the auction will go ahead.
    Lot 88 in Bonhams' auction catalogue for July 4 includes an
east Greek Geometric skyphos of the late 8th century B.C.,
believed to be have been stolen from a private collection in
Cyprus' northern Turkish occupied areas of the island.
    A spokesman for the Cyprus Department of Antiquities has said
the authorities are making the appropriate moves to prove the
ownership of this item, which was identified by its proprietor.
    Asked what proof they would need, Whiteman said ''ownership
of the item would have to be proven by giving precise details
from the archives, such as its registration number, a photograph,
a detailed description including dimensions.''
    She said this particular kind of item is ''a very common
type'' and noted that had it been an unusual item whose ownership
was questioned, it would have been withdrawn immediately.
    Replying to questions, she said the skyphos came from
''somebody in Germany, who had bought it in an auction but we do
not know where, and he found it difficult to believe that it
could have come from your collection.''
    This person, she said, a German national, ''deals in
antiquities, is very well respected and well known, he is not
somebody we feel we need to ask questions about.''
    The item ''has obviously passed through many hands, if this
is the right one,'' she added.
    Asked what procedure Bonhams follows to place an item on
auction, Whiteman said ''anybody can come to bring an item to be
auctioned but we are always very careful because there are a lot
of pieces offered to us that have been illegally excavated and we
always turn those away.''
 CNA MM/MA/1996
ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1825:CYPPRESS:03
 
[03] US Congress impatient with Turkish occupation, says Gilman



    Nicosia, Jun 26 (CNA) -- The US Congress is running out of
patience with the continuing Turkish occupation of Cyprus'
northern areas, Benjamin Gilman, Chairman of the House
International Relations Committee, has said.
    In a letter to US Presidential Emissary Richard Beattie,
Gilman urged him ``to make it clear to the Turkish authorities,
particularly the Turkish military, that the patience of the
Congress with the continued Turkish occupation of Cyprus is
almost exhausted.''
    Welcoming the US Administration's renewed ''active role in
encouraging the parties to the Cyprus dispute to resolve this
long-standing problem,'' Gilman said ''we cannot allow the fact
that Turkey is an important NATO ally to excuse the continued
military occupation and territorial claims against another small
country that we also value strongly as a friend.''
    Gilman said that the Committee ''appreciates the fact that it
will require negotiation and compromise by both sides of the
Cyprus dispute to achieve a just solution.''
    But, he added, ''we believe the Turkish military holds the
key to allowing such a process to begin, namely by beginning the
withdrawal of Turkish military forces from the island.''
    Richard Beattie is expected to visit Cyprus next month as
part of American efforts to make headway in the Cyprus problem.
 CNA KN/MM/1996
ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY




