Athens mulls own stand
Greece’s ruling New Democracy party has not voiced a verdict on General-Secretary Kofi Annan’s plan for Cyprus’s reunification, maintaining its position that the Cypriots should decide their own fate. But President Tassos Papadopoulos’s rejection of the plan was sure to weigh heavily on the government. An indication of this was the testy response of senior ND cadre Giorgos Souflias, the public works minister, when asked to comment on the PASOK opposition party’s endorsement of the plan on Wednesday and leader George Papandreou’s call for ND to take a stand. «Neither Mr Papandreou nor anyone else will tell the government when to take a specific position on the issue that has arisen,» he said. The government, which was believed to be tending toward approving the plan, is expected to speak after a meeting of all party leaders that has not yet been scheduled. The Communist Party has said «no» to the plan.
