Cyprus president boycotts Queen8217;s bash over quot;leakquot;

NICOSIA, June 6: Cypriot officials snubbed the annual celebration of the official birthday of Queen Elizabeth II at a British base here on F...

NICOSIA, June 6: Cypriot officials snubbed the annual celebration of the official birthday of Queen Elizabeth II at a British base here on Friday in what was widely seen as a protest at the 8220;leaking8221; of a contingency plan to evacuate British nationals from the island.

Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides was invited to the celebration at the British base at Episkopi but turned the invitation down, the first time in recent history a President of a former British colony had done so, British bases spokesman captain Jon Smith said.

8220;He was invited and chose not to attend,8221; Smith said, adding that Clerides had officially declined the invitation on Wednesday.

8220;We do not consider it to be a snub,8221; Smith insisted. But he conceded that, as far he knew, no other Cypriot officials had attended the celebration either.

The boycott follows publication in London8217;s Sunday Times last weekend of a British contingency plan to evacuate as many as 250,000 nationals from the island this summer if Turkey carries out athreat to respond militarily to Cyprus8217;s planned deployment of advanced ground-to-air missiles.

The Cyprus Government reacted angrily to the report denouncing the use of 8220;leaks8221; by the British Defence ministry as a 8220;pressure lever for the cancellation and non-delivery8221; of the Russian-made S-300 missiles.

It is 8220;not a normal and usual phenomenon, the leaking of information by the British MoD Ministry of Defence regarding their plans,8221; said Cyprus government spokesman Chrystos Stylianides.

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8220;The government is taking it very seriously at the highest level,8221; a source close to the government told AFP. Stylianides on Friday confirmed that Clerides had stayed away from the British monarch8217;s official birthday celebrations. The 79-year-old President, who served in Britain8217;s Royal Air Force during World War II, received many invitations from foreign embassies 8220;and chooses which ones he wants to go to,8221; Stylianides said. Greece and supplier Russia insist the S-300 missiles are entirely defensive, butTurkey says they threaten the Turkish-held north of the island as well as the Turkish mainland.

Britons formed around 800,000 or 40 per cent of the 2.08 million tourists who visited the government-held south of the island in 1997, according to tourism office figures.

Cypriot business leaders have expressed fears that London is trying to put pressure on Nicosia by threatening the tourism industry which constitutes 20 percent of its gross national product.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Ankara invaded the northern third of the island following a Greek Cypriot coup in Nicosia seeking union with Athens. Turkish Cypriots set up their own Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in 1983 but it is recognized only by Ankara.