President eliminated in Cypriot election

CYPRIOT President Tassos Papadopoulos was eliminated yesterday from Cyprus’s presidential run-off in a huge surprise after a cliff-hanger election that saw three candidates neck-and-neck until the last minute.

“The people have judged and decided. Their choice is completely respected,” said Mr Papadopoulos.

The election, which will be determined in a February 24 second round, is seen as pivotal to the decades-old search for a deal to reunify the ethnically divided island — a division that has proven a big stumbling block to Turkey’s efforts to join the EU.