TURKISH CYPRIOT forces yesterday shot and killed a GreekCypriot who had crossed into the north of Cyprus.
The incident raised to four the number of people killed along the buffer zone since tension began to rise in August; three of them were Greek Cypriots and the fourth was a Turkish Cypriot. The killing came hours before the arrival of Sir David Hannay, Britain's special representative on the Cyprus problem, in another attempt to end the stalemate in the divided island.
The Cypriot government spokesman, Mr Yiannakis Cassoulides, described the killing of the 58 year old man yesterday as "blatant, cold blooded murder".
The shooting happened at 7.35 a.m. near the eastern end of the buffer zone, close to Achna village and territory controlled by British military bases.
Turkish Cypriot officials said the man, a retired fireman, Petros Kakouli, had gone 200 metres into the Turkish Cypriot sector and ignored warnings to stop.
A Cypriot police spokesman said that Mr Kakouli, a resident of the nearby village of Avgorou in the government controlled area of the island, was with his son in law collecting snails. "At one point his son in law lost him and then saw him standing with his hands up," he said. "Turkish soldiers shot him once and then walked closer to him and finished him off."
A Turkish Cypriot military spokesman said that soldiers had called on him three times to stop: "He did not. Three warning shots were fired into the area. He attempted to escape. Shots were fired and he was hit."
The body was removed after about four hours. Cypriot authorities were making representations through the United Nations to recover it. A police spokesman said the body would probably be handed over through the UN today.
The Greek Cypriot President, Mr Glavkos Clerides, said his government might make an appeal to the UN Security Council over the incident, according to Cyprus radio. "We are examining the possibility of appealing to the UN Security Council," he said, according to a report monitored by the BBC.
Turkey has 30,000 troops in the Turkish Cypriot north of the island. The Turkish Cypriot leader, Mr Rauf Denktash, told BBC radio that the incident was "most unfortunate" but blamed Greek Cypriot intransigence for the continuing tension on the island.
The shooting occurred near where a Turkish Cypriot soldier was shot dead beside the UN patrolled buffer zone last month. Flags were lowered to half mast in Avgorou after the killing. "The situation is very tense, a resident said.
On his arrival, the British mediator, Mr Hannay, said that another tragic death proved the status quo in Cyprus could not continue. "What we've got to do is put a big effort into getting a settlement once and for all," he told BBC radio.