Tuesday 29 January 2013

THE BALKANS – ORGANIZED CRIME, RADICAL ISLAM AND POLITICAL CORRUPTION PART 5

 
INFILTRATION INTO THE BALKAN STATES EDUCATIONS SYSTEM - THE KEY AIM OF WAHHABISM
and

KOSOVO: RADIKALER ISLAM ALS "TICKENDE BOMBE"



Adapted by Geopolitical Analysis and Monitoring from Ioannis Michaletos


A new Islamist university has opened in Novi Pazar, ostensibly a normal college, but led by an Islamist mufti of little formal education. This modern institution — whose officials proclaim it a normal educational institution — reveals its character in its symbol: the Wahabbi/Salafi Dawa symbol, an open Q’uran surmounted with a rising sun. The university, in a renovated former textile factory, is a known center of radical Islamist thinking. Book fairs held there on a regular basis, distributed radical Islamist literature, specifically advocating conflict with the West.
The Dawa sign indicates that the university is predominantly SAUDI-funded, although some Western funding is known to have been pumped into the institution, reportedly largely to undermine SERB interests in the region.
Western tolerance of Islamic radicals, however, was one of the gravest mistakes of modern times. In addition, a well organized criminal network has already been established in Sarajevo that in a large extent facilitates illegal immigration from ASIA to EUROPE. That activity is coupled with the narcotics trade that is being supplemented by the infamous “Balkan Drug route”. The route passes mostly through areas which are under the influence of Muslims. 

THE ALBANIAN FACTOR

ALBANIA was under the Communist rule during the Cold War, the most isolated country in EUROPE. In 1992 ALBANIA become a member of the “Islamic Conference”, an international Islamic organization. The same year the government of Sali Berisha, the current Prime Minister, signed a military agreement with TURKEY, thus enacting a series of discussions in the neighboring states, regarding the possibility of an Islamic arch from Istanbul to Sarajevo.
One of the main reasons the ALBANIAN officials were eager to form strong ties with the Muslim world was to attract investment from the Gulf, which would help to kick start the stagnating Albanian economy. Therefore the religious sentiment of the majority of ALBANIANS, mostly from the North, was suppressed in order to gain funding from the Islamic world. Unfortunately no serious investment initiatives were undertaken; instead Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, found another state to expand their illegal activities. Many different and respectable sources have indicated two visits by Bin Laden in Tirana, the aim of which was to create an Islamic platform for the country and the construction of terrorist networks within the territory.


An ALBANIAN called Naseroudin Albani played an instrumental role in spreading extremist Islamic values into ALBANIAN society. He was a fugitive from ALBANIA since 1963 and resided in Amman-JORDAN. Sources from ALBANIA point out that Albani organized radical Sunni sects back in the 70’s in the MIDDLE EAST that became the nucleus of the modern day Mujahedin. Another ALBANIAN, the then head of ALBANIA’S Secret service, SHIK, called Bashkim Gazidente assisted implementing radical Islamic agendas in ALBANIAN domestic policies. During the 1997 ALBANIAN riots Gazidente fled from ALBANIA and he is said to be an instrumental part in global Fundamentalist Islamic networks. Allegedly he fled to a Middle Eastern country and later moved to Rome-ITALY. 

THE AL QAEDA FACTOR IN ALBANIA,

 
was consolidated by the creation of the ARABIC-ALBANIAN bank, in which Bin Laden allegedly invested the sum of 11.4 million USD. This financial institution acted as a front cover for the transfer of capital for Islamic activities within the country. Just before Berisha’s political overturn in 1997, another Islamic institution called “El Farouk”, acted as a recruitment agency for young ALBANIANS, under the pretext of a charity. One of the most dramatic indicators of the degree of Islamic presence in ALBANIA is the militant Islamic training camp just outside Tirana. At this point it is interesting to note that it was a well known fact among the international community of the nexus between organized crime syndicates, terrorist cells and the KLA, operating under and with ALBANIAN assistance. Actually ALBANIA was mainly used as launch pad to neighboring KOSOVO. In April 1999, some 500 Arab Mujahedeen were smuggled into the capital of Tirana. Their mission was to conduct special operations against YUGOSLAV forces in KOSOVO. They entered KOSOVO from Northern ALBANIA. The whole operation was led by Bin Laden’s deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri.

The Nairobi and TANZANIA bombings of 1998 shocked the US administration into taking some action, for the first time, to dismantle terrorist’s networks. Soon, pressure fell on ALBANIA and in the October of the same month individuals of Middle Eastern origin were rounded up and deported. The head of SHIK, Fatos Clozi, admitted for the first time the existence of Islamic extremists in ALBANIA and promised the eradication of the terrorist nucleus.


ALBANIAN-ISLAMIC CONNECTION NOW FOCUSES ON KOSOVO

The 9/11 attacks proved to be a fatal blow for radicals in ALBANIA due to USA forces having more or less neutralize any remaining cells operating or hiding in ALBANA. The government of ALBANIA, which is more than willing to become inducted in the Euro-Atlantic security framework, has ceased to seek Islamic assistance and the current Berisha’s administration has refaced its Islamic outlook into a modern EUROPEAN one.
Nevertheless, the ALBANIAN-Islamic connection is now concentrated in KOSOVO, the very same location NATO forces are stationed! Allegedly there are an overwhelming variety of sources and reports that indicate a well established fundamentalist presence in that area. It is a common secret in the IC (International Community) that the West kept a blind eye during the 1998-1999 Winter where hundreds of Mujahedin joined the UCK forces and helped it expand. Shaul Shay describes “The KLA (KOSOVO LIBERATION ARMY) enjoyed the support of former ALBANIAN President Sali Berisha, who regarded the war in KOSOVO as a Jihad and issued a call to all Muslims to fight for the protection of their homeland.

MONTENEGRO: BY 2050 - 50% MUSLIM

At that period the means justified the end which was the disbandment of the RUSSIAN influence in the BALKANS, as the Clinton administration viewed the Milosevic one. The result was a resurge of Islamic radical networks in the region, thus eliminating the beneficial results of previous actions against it.
The newly independent MONTENEGRO nowadays faces a long term Islamic population bomb and it is certain that should current trends continue, in 2050 half of the population will be Muslim That is not of course a prelude of terrorism action per se, but the overall turbulent BALKAN history and the existence of terror networks in nearby KOSOVO do not assure a tranquil political future for the newest BALKAN state.
FYROM is also another terrain where the delicate balance between radicalism and Muslim secularism is taking place. Back in 2001, an ALBANIAN uprising nearly resulted in the disintegration of the state although nowadays there is an uneasy stability. However any negative developments in KOSOVO will affect directly the country which is also the epicenter of the BALKANS, from a geopolitical point of view.
Lastly the SANJAK area in Southern SERBIA is a territory to watch, where the Wahhabi strain of Islam has gained tremendous influence in the local Muslim population. In March 2007 a terrorist cell was disbanded by the SERBIAN authorities and a terrorist plan was dwarfed at the last minute. Again KOSOVO as the centre of radicalism in the BALKANS could play the role of the powder keg for any developments in SANJAK.

Interesting to note is that an Austrian Daily picked up on the Balkan topic in regards to radical Islam and published this article:


Kosovo: Radikaler Islam als "tickende Bombe"

Arbana Xharra via Der Standard 
  • Beim traditionellen  Freitagsgebet kann die Hauptmoschee von Prishtina 

die Masse der Gläubigen nicht mehr fassen.
    foto: ap/kryeziu
    Beim traditionellen Freitagsgebet kann die Hauptmoschee von Prishtina die Masse der Gläubigen nicht mehr fassen.
  • Osman Musliu, Imam in Drenas, wurde tätlich angegriffen.
    foto: xharra
    Osman Musliu, Imam in Drenas, wurde tätlich angegriffen.
  • Shefqet Krasniqi, Imam in Prishtina, fordert Religionsfreiheit.
    foto: xharra
    Shefqet Krasniqi, Imam in Prishtina, fordert Religionsfreiheit.
  • Artikelbild
    grafik: standard

Der Kosovo erlebt, begünstigt durch Armut und Arbeitslosigkeit, ein Erstarken des radikalen Islam. Dessen Anhänger fordern mehr Rechte und provozieren damit Gegenreaktionen von säkularen Kosovaren

Die Gläubigen, die nicht in die Moschee passen, sitzen vor den Eingängen auf dem Gehsteig, der mit Gebetsteppichen belegt ist. Die über Lautsprecher verstärkte Stimme des Geistlichen tönt über sie hinweg auf die Straße. Beim Freitagsgebet in Prishtina, der Hauptstadt des Kosovo, kann die Hauptmoschee weder die Gläubigen noch den Schall der Predigt, die zu hören sie gekommen sind, fassen.

"Allahs Feinde führen die muslimische Jugend in die Irre", warnt der Geistliche. Er listet Alkohol, Drogen und den verderblichen Einfluss des Internet als Teil einer konzertierten Aktion auf, "um die Schwungkraft des Islam zu stoppen". "Die Unmoral ist auf dem Vormarsch", so seine Diagnose.
Man muss nicht weit gehen, um Hinweise auf die "Unmoral" zu sehen. Unweit der Moschee sitzen junge Männer und Frauen bei Kaffee und Bier in den angesagten Bars der Innenstadt von Prishtina herum. In der Nähe stehen neue Denkmäler, die die jüngste Vergangenheit des Kosovo erzählen. Eine große Bronzestatue von Bill Clinton, seine Hand im Triumph oder zum Gruß erhoben, schmückt einen Boulevard, der seinen Namen trägt. Der ehemalige US-Präsident wird hier als Held gefeiert, weil er 1999 Nato-Flugzeuge gegen serbische Truppen entsandte.

Konvertiten und Hardliner

Eine andere, indirekte Folge des Konflikts wird heute jedoch mit Argwohn betrachtet: Eine strenge Form des Islam zieht Konvertiten im gesamten Kosovo an. Der Aufstieg dieser Gruppe stellt die Traditionen und Ansprüche einer Gesellschaft infrage, die weniger durch ihren islamischen Glauben als durch ihre Zugehörigkeit zur albanischen Volksgruppe und ihren Proamerikanismus definiert war. Bis 1999 noch völlig unbekannt, sind die religiösen Konservativen und Hardliner heute eine kleine, aber zunehmend sichtbare Gruppe mit Anhängern in allen großen Städten und einigen der ärmsten Gegenden auf dem Land.
Sicherheitsbeamte berichten, dass diese strengeren Formen des Glaubens nach dem Krieg aufkeimten, als Folge des Zustroms von islamischen Hilfsorganisationen in den Kosovo und der Schulung von lokalen Geistlichen in arabischen Ländern. Die Sicherheitsexperten sprechen von 50.000 Anhängern dieses konservativen Islam im Kosovo. Das ist ein Bruchteil der gesamten muslimischen Bevölkerung, die auf rund 1,8 Millionen Menschen geschätzt wird.

Diskriminierung der Frommen

Einige Geistliche und Konvertiten haben aber die Aufmerksamkeit inländischer Geheimdienste auf sich gezogen. Diese neue Generation religiöser Konservativer sagt, die säkulare Verfassung des Kosovo diskriminiere die Frommen. Sie wollen eine Lockerung der Beschränkungen für religiöse Symbole in staatlichen Schulen, die muslimischen Frauen und Mädchen verbieten, ein Kopftuch zu tragen.
Die Beziehung zwischen dem Staat und den Konservativen ist von Unsicherheit und Unbehagen geprägt. Beide Seiten berufen sich auf internationale Menschenrechte. "Wenn jemand behauptet, wir haben Religionsfreiheit, ist das nicht wahr", sagt Shefqet Krasniqi, Imam der Hauptmoschee in Prishtina. "Wir fordern die gleichen Rechte, die Muslime in London oder den USA haben."
Innenminister Bajram Rexhepi sagt hingegen, dass in der Zwischenzeit menschenrechtliche Bedenken seine Versuche behindert hätten, Aktivitäten von mutmaßlichen islamistischen Hardlinern einzudämmen. Er berichtet, dass er während seiner Amtszeit als Ministerpräsident vor neun Jahren versucht habe, ein Gesetz gegen "radikale Sekten" anzustoßen. Doch er sei von "Internationals" davon abgebracht worden - nämlich von Beamten der UN-Mission, die von 1999 bis 2008 halfen, den Kosovo zu verwalten.

Gefahren von UNO und EU unterschätzt

Behxhet Shala, Leiter der wichtigsten Menschenrechtsorganisation im Kosovo, sagt, die Gefahr des Extremismus sei von den Vereinten Nationen und der EU unterschätzt worden. "Heute sind die Internationals hier, aber sie werden wieder gehen. Und sie verlassen uns mit einer tickenden Bombe", sagt Shala. Er meint, dass die Armut im Kosovo und die durchlässigen Grenzen das Land zu einem fruchtbaren Boden für Radikalismus machten.
Tatsächlich wurde der Zusammenbruch des sozialistischen Jugoslawien von einer religiösen Bewegung in der Region begleitet. Die katholischen und die orthodoxen Kirchen in Kroatien und Serbien sind heute stärker, als sie es vor den Kriegen der 1990er-Jahre waren. Der Kosovo ist dabei keine Ausnahme. Im ganzen Land wurden neue Moscheen gebaut, oft finanziert von Spendern aus islamischen Staaten.

Ramiqi auf Mavi Marmara

Die meisten Kosovaren sind Muslime und üben eine relativ entspannte Form des Islam aus, die von osmanischen und mystischen Sufi-Traditionen geprägt ist. Die Hardliner scheinen mehr von arabischen Interpretationen des Glaubens beeinflusst zu sein. Sie selbst beschreiben sich als Verteidiger des Glaubens, die sich dem Vordringen des "westlichen" Säkularismus in den Kosovo widersetzen.
Fuad Ramiqi, ein Vertreter der Bashkohu-Bewegung sagt, seine Gruppierung befürworte öffentliche Proteste und gewaltfreien Widerstand. Die Gruppe beschwerte sich über das Verbot von Kopftüchern in Schulen und über die Bedeutung christlicher Denkmäler in Prishtina. "Das kann kein demokratischer Staat sein, der mir Säkularismus auferlegt", sagt er.
Ramiqi kämpfte in den 1990er-Jahren in Bosnien und war an Bord der Mavi Marmara, eines Schiffes mit Hilfsgütern für Palästinenser im Gazastreifen, das von israelischen Militärs im Jahr 2010 abgefangen wurde.

Angriffe auf Kritiker

In unregelmäßigen Abständen kommt es zu Angriffen gegen Kritiker des extremistischen Islam. Musli Verbani, ein ehemaliger Imam in der Stadt Kacanik, warnte in einer Predigt im Jahr 2007 seine Gemeinde vor Extremismus. Kurz darauf wurde sein geparktes Auto in Brand gesetzt. Ein Mann aus der Gegend wurde für den Vorfall im Jänner 2011 zu drei Monaten Gefängnis verurteilt.
Andere Angriffe gegen Menschen, die sich gegen Extremismus ausgesprochen hatten, führten zu keinen Verhaftungen. Xhabir Hamidi, Professor für Islamische Studien an der Universität Prishtina und prominenter Kritiker der Wahhabiten, wurde im Jahr 2008 von maskierten Männern geschlagen. Er glaubt, dass er wegen seiner Ansichten angegriffen wurde. Osman Musliu, ein Imam aus der Stadt Drenas, wurde 2009 in einer Moschee geschlagen. "Ich verlor das Bewusstsein, und meine Hand wurde gebrochen", berichtet er. "Ich habe mich immer gegen die Wahhabiten in unserer Mitte ausgesprochen."
Ein hochrangiger Polizeibeamter, der nicht namentlich genannt werden will, sagt, dass es damals nicht genügend Beweise gegeben habe, um Anklagen wegen der Angriffe auf Hamidi und Musliu zu verfassen.
Musliu und Verbani sagen, dass sie von der Reaktion der Islamischen Gemeinschaft - der Dachorganisation, die die Moscheen im Kosovo verwaltet - auf die Angriffe enttäuscht seien. Beide meinen, dass die Institution die Angriffe auf ihre Mitglieder stärker verurteilen hätte sollen.


Monday 28 January 2013

IRAN ACTIVELY WEIGHS SYRIAN-ISRAELI CLASH.





IRON DOME POSTED IN N. ISRAEL

 IRAN:A ISRAELI OFFENSIVE AGAINST SYRIA WOULD BE TREATED AS A DIRECT CONFRONTATION WITH IRAN

DEBKAfile

Tehran appears to be looking seriously at a limited SYRIAN-LEBANESE clash of arms with ISRAEL – possibly using Bashar Assad’s chemical weapons as a trigger, debkafile’s military and intelligence sources disclose.  Reacting to this news, ISRAEL announced the deployment of Iron Dome anti-missile batteries some days ago to reinforce security in northern Israel and the key Haifa port. 

The IRANIANS see three strategic benefits in embroiling Israel in a limited war with its two allies, Syria and Hizballah:

1. A new outbreak of armed violence would direct world attention away from the SYRIAN civil war:

2. ISRAEL would be sidetracked from a possible strike against IRAN’S nuclear facilities – even a “surgical operation” such as Defense Minister Ehud Barak spoke of over the weekend – by being thrown into multiple battles with IRANIAN forces in SYRIA and LEBANON, the Shiite Hizballah and the Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihadi in the Gaza Strip.
The clash would be programmed to end without winners or losers like ISRAEL’S war against Hizballah in 2006 and its two anti-terror operations the Gaza Strip in 2009 and 2012. But meanwhile ISRAEL would have its hands too full with threats on three borders to pursue military action against a nuclear IRAN.

3. Tehran would buy another year’s delay for spinning out its talks with the Six Powers (US, RUSSIA, FRANCE, BRITAIN, CHINA and GERMANY) on their nuclear controversy.
At the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said “ISRAEL faced some of the gravest threats in its existence” and they continue to run riot “in the east, the north and the south.”

UNCERTAINTY FACTOR: EGYPT

Behind his words, was an immediate neighborhood beset in last couple of weeks by al Qaeda’s advance in Mali - now checked by FRENCH intervention; the ALGERIAN gas field hostage siege; and the discovery of the strong interface among the various AFRICAN Al Qaeda branches, including EGYPT, in operations, logistics, shared arms suppliers and the pooling of jihadist manpower in the different arenas.

ISRAEL’S prime minister and security chiefs are clearly troubled by the perceived danger of the jihadist networks based in EGYPTIAN Sinai and al Qaeda affiliates fighting in SYRIA joining up to attack ISRAEL from two directions, the north and the south. This would be in keeping with the multiple, multinational terrorist threats surfacing in AFRICA.

A ISRAELI OFFENSIVE AGAINST SYRIA WOULD BE TREATED AS A DIRECT CONFRONTATION WITH IRAN

With regard to SYRIA’S chemical weapons, after convening an expanded security-diplomatic cabinet meeting, Netanyahu remarked: “We have to look around us… What’s happening in IRAN and the lethal weapons in SYRIA, which is falling apart…”
He left the specifics to Deputy Prime Minister Sylvan Shalom, who said that if chemical weapons reached Hizballah or SYRIAN rebel hands, “Such a development would be a crossing of all red lines that would require a different approach, including even preventive operations.”
But even Shalom did not specify where the red lines would be – the handover of SYRIAN chemical weapons to Hizballah? And against whom would ISRAEL take preventive action – SYRIA, Hizballah or both? And if they reached SYRIAN rebel hands, would ISRAEL hit them or go straight for the poison gas arsenals?

Neither Netanyahu nor Shalom responded to the IRANIAN warning issued by Ali Akbar Velayati, a close adviser to IRANIAN leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that an attack on SYRIA would be tantamount to an attack on IRAN.
This warning was intended to drive home to ISRAEL the message that an offensive against SYRIA would be treated as a direct confrontation with IRAN.

WARNING AIMED AT HOLDING ISRAEL BACK FROM A MILITARY STRIKE AGAINST SYRIA - SYRIA, NOT THE ASSAD REGIME

This is because an ISRAELI attack on SYRIAN rebels armed with chemical weapons would also serve Tehran’s purpose very well:  IRANIAN forces in SYRIA and LEBANON would use the opportunity to unite the SYRIAN army and the rebels against the common enemy, ISRAEL, and so start the process of winding down the anti-Assad revolt.
Velayati also avoided mentioning IRAN’S key ally in LEBANON, Hizballah. In his warning, he said: "SYRIA has a very basic and key role in the region for promoting firm policies of resistance [against ISRAEL]... For this reason an attack on SYRIA would be considered an attack on IRAN and IRAN'S allies."


This high-ranking IRANIAN figure took care not to draw attention to Hizballah because, according to debkafile’s military sources, parts of the SYRIAN chemical arsenal have already reached Hizballah and are stashed away in fortified bunkers in the terrorist militia’s Beqaa Valey strongholds, along with a lethal array of long- and medium-range ground-to-ground rockets that too were smuggled secretly across the SYRIAN border.
Some western intelligence sources – especially AMERICAN – now believe SYRIAN chemical weapons were secreted to Hizballah during 2012. They were sent over in small packages to avoid attracting US or ISRAEL attention.  By now Hizballah is thought to have accumulated a substantial supply of poison weapons.
Our military sources report that ISRAEL’S military planners have long-range logistical plans ready for dealing with new situations such as this one. It has expanded its undercover penetration (See: LONG-RANGE, LARGELY CLANDESTINE AND MULTI-SERVICE MISSIONS:http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.com.ar/2012/05/idf-israeli-defense-forces.html) of SYRIA and LEBANON and is making rapid progress in erecting a sophisticated 57-kilometer security force along the SYRIAN border. This project may take months to complete. But meanwhile, IRAN is working on its own plans for jumping the gun before it is finished with a military adventure.



Sunday 27 January 2013

BROKE CYPRUS COULD BE ENERGY TRUMP CARD FOR EUROPE



 
CYPRUS’S HUGE UNTAPPED GAS RESERVES WILL BENEFIT THE EUROPEAN UNION

Geopolitical Analysis and Monitoring wrote January 2013:

COULD IT BE THAT THE TROIKA (IMF, ECB AND WORLD BANK) IN REALITY FOCUSES ON TAKING CONTROL OF CYPRUS’S PROCLAIMED HYDROCARBON FINDINGS?

DE FACTO LOSS OF SOVEREIGNTY: CYPRUS MAKES BIG CONCESSIONS FOR BAILOUT

Read the entire article at:



Nicosia: EUROPE should not worry about bailing out crisis-hit CYPRUS because the island’s huge untapped gas reserves will benefit the EUROPEAN UNION by making it less dependent on RUSSIAN energy, analysts say.

Despite struggling under a GREEK-exposed debt mountain, the east Mediterranean island sits on potentially huge energy wealth in excess of 600 billion EUR, a Royal Bank of Scotland report said.
CYPRUS hydrocarbons company chief Charles Ellinas says the island will be exporting to EUROPE by 2019 with a view to meeting 10 percent of the bloc’s energy needs.
“This is not totally hypothetical. EUROPE has a huge dependence on RUSSIA and CYPRUS can help reduce that,” he told AFP.

“If you look beyond the next couple of years the future looks rosy. After 2020 we will start to pay off our debt and eventually create a surplus.”
RBS said that despite now facing potential bankruptcy, CYPRUS’S future energy riches will be a boom.
“CYPRUS will become geopolitically important for gas pipeline routes, and EUROPE should benefit from greater energy security away from RUSSIA,” the RBS report said, also sounding a cautionary note.
“These monies however are not readily available; the commodity spoils of EUROPE’S new lucky country are a medium- to long-term story.”

If further exploratory drillings match the success of the first findings, these could top 2,950 percent of GDP.
“The long-term potential of CYPRUS is very good but in the short term it has to make adjustments through the austerity measures as part of any loan deal. Gas reserves are there but need time to be exploited,” RBS analyst Michael Michaelides said.

Offshore exploration by Houston-based Noble Energy in Block 12 of CYPRUS’S Exclusive Economic Zone indicates a gross natural gas reserve of up to 254.9 billion cubic metres (9 trillion cubic feet).
Noble expects to commercially extract and transfer the gas onshore by late 2018 and begin exporting to EUROPE the following year.


ITALIAN giant ENI, FRANCE’S Total and SOUTH KOREA’S Kogas are all negotiating for permits in other offshore blocks.
Analyst Fiona Mullen estimates that the current finds alone could mean gas revenues of at least one billion euros annually.
“So the revenue will be very significant when it comes. But I think we won’t see any significant revenue for 15 years,” she said.
Mullen said that is why it is important for international lenders to give CYPRUS a lengthy loan repayment period rather than the four years envisaged.

“CYPRUS will need to find more gas before it can find finance for an LNG plant, which puts back the financing a few more years. Then it could take 10 years to build the plant, so it could be 15 years before the plant is built and the money flows.”
Nicosia is looking to borrow some €17.5 billion — almost 100 per cent of its annual GDP.
The finance ministry concedes that without a quick bailout agreement, the EUROZONE country faces “bankruptcy”.
EUROZONE finance ministers are due to discuss CYPRUS’ aid request, but a final decision is not expected then.
Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly said Nicosia had “satisfied all the demands” of international lenders, with the figure for bank recapitalisation the only missing piece.

Shiarly said the EUROZONE ministers’ meeting would not have a final figure for the amount needed by the banks, expected to be up to 10 billion euros but with the government hoping to lower it.
“Probably the magic number won’t be known in the next couple of days,” Shiarly told state radio, adding that another eurogroup meeting on bank recapitalisation was “unavoidable”.
This would mean an eventual agreement would be signed by a new government following a presidential election on February 17.

Nicosia applied for financial aid in June after its two largest banks, severely rocked by losses connected with the GREEK debt crisis, sought state support.
CYPRUS has already pushed through tough austerity measures to meet demands for more than one billion euros in cuts and savings.
One should not forget however that RUSSIA will also have a say in the matter for it “bailed out” CYPRUS in recent past by providing a large loan. Historically CYPRUS and RUSSIA always had close ties, politically as well as religiously (Christian Orthodox) and last CYPRUS is a financial safe - haven for RUSSIA’S oligarchy, something they will not give up easily.

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