Where is christofias

He was Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades confirmed his predecessor's death in a written message, expressing "deep sorrow. Conveying his condolences to the Christofias' family, Anastasiades said his predecessor had been in frail health for many years. Christofias, who was president from , had been in a critical condition since being admitted to Nicosia General hospital in May. Israeli doctors had assisted Cypriot colleagues in treating the former president. Christofias' personal doctor Michael Minas told state-run Cyprus News Agency the former president died at p.

Condolences to Christofias' family poured in from Greek Cypriot political leaders as well as the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots Mustafa Akinci, who did so in a tweet. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras praised Christofias as a "genuine leader" of the Cypriot people and a "great fighter of the Left" who was always on the frontline of the struggle for social justice and for reunifying Cyprus.

Anastasiades will chair a Cabinet meeting Saturday to work out the details of Christofias' funeral arrangements. Christofias was the only Cypriot president not to seek re-election, citing his failure to achieve his "life's vision" of reunifying the country that had been split since Turkey invaded in following a coup by supporters of union with Greece. After his March rise to power, Christofias was hailed as the leader with the best chance to achieve a peace breakthrough that had eluded his predecessors, thanks to long-standing ties with the Turkish Cypriot left-wing trade union movement.

But all the optimism faded as talks with two Turkish Cypriot leaders dragged on over five years without tangible results. Centre-right party Diko then pulled out of the coalition with the communists over differences on economic policy. However, Mr Kazamias said Cyprus should be able to avoid becoming the fourth eurozone economy to seek a bailout.

The Cypriot economy's growth prospects have suffered as a result of rolling power cuts since the Vassilikos plant blew up on 11 July, when a cargo of confiscated Iranian munitions exploded at a nearby military base.

The communist AKEL party is now in a clear minority in parliament, with only 19 deputies in the member House of Representatives, making it difficult to pass legislation.

Other appointments to cabinet were Erato Kozakou as foreign minister and Demetris Eliades as defence minister. Christofias, who lead the Progressive party of the Working People Akel and was president from to , received the emotional farewell as his body lay in state at the federation representing trade unions before being put to rest in a state funeral in Nicosia.

Cuba was among the countries most admired by Christofias, who also advocated polices of rapprochement between Greek and Turkish Cypriots in an island divided by war. The Greek Cypriot government declared three days of national mourning after the politician was pronounced dead on Friday, after being in critical condition in hospital since May.

Many in the island nation of 1.