Athens News Agency: News in English (AM), 97-08-10
NEWS IN ENGLISH
Athens, Greece, 10/08/1997 (ANA)
MAIN HEADLINES
- Cyprus President to participate in UN talks `with an open mind`
- Athens `97 world athletics championships
- Yugoslav FM in Athens on Monday
- Incident at Evros border
- Stadium restriction unrelated to Stockholm bomb
- IAAF president praises Athens' public
- OTE to launch mobile phone system in September
- Weather
- Foreign Exchange
NEWS IN DETAIL
Cyprus President to participate in UN talks `with an open mind`
Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides said despite the latest spate of Turkish
provocations, he would go to UN-sponsored talks in Switzerland "with an
open mind and desire to be constructive" with the aim of finding a solution
to the protracted Cyprus problem.
In an exclusive interview with the Athens News Agency, Mr. Clerides
stressed that Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash had for the last two
years insisted that he wanted to meet with him to discuss a Cyprus
settlement, knowing that the European Union would begin negotiations for
the accession of the island republic six months after the end of the inter-
governmental conference.
The second round of UN-sponsored talks between Mr. Clerides and Mr.
Denktash begin in Montreux, Switzerland on Monday. They are scheduled to
continue until August 16.
Just five days before the talks were due to begin however, Turkey and the
Turkish-Cypriot illegal regime in the occupied north of the island --
recognised only by Turkey -- signed an agreement providing for their
partial integration. Both Nicosia and Athens have strongly attacked the
accord, as have the European Union and the United States. Mr. Clerides
described it as an attempt to provoke the Greek Cypriot side into not
attending the talks. Greece accused Turkey of undermining the peace talks,
thereby "revealing its true face".
"Mr. Denktash's reaction at the present time causes me some concern,
however. I hope it does not indicate an effort to find pretexts for
concealing his and Turkey's lack of political will for a settlement of the
Cyprus problem," the Cypriot President said.
Replying to questions on initiatives undertaken by Washington, Mr. Clerides
said the US, as the country which exercises the greatest influence on
Turkey, was expected to play "an extremely important role in persuading
Ankara to contribute to efforts to find a solution". Mr. Clerides added
that the UN Security Council, "in particular its five permanent members and
of course Russia" also had an important part to play.
"The same is true for the EU, since the Cyprus problem is already a
European one from the moment that Cyprus is a candidate for accession and
also given that EU member states such as Britain and Greece are directly
involved in the problem. In addition, Turkey has a customs union agreement
with the EU and is seeking to become a full member," Mr. Clerides told the
ANA.
Greece, Turkey and Britain were the three guarantor powers of Cyprus'
independence under the 1960 treaty of establishment of the Cyprus
Republic.
Mr. Clerides also said it was "premature" to consider procedures like the
one used at Dayton (to solve the Bosnian crisis) or Camp David (to restore
relations between Egypt and Israel), to solve the Cyprus problem. Asked
whether the upcoming talks would affect Cyprus' efforts to secure EU
membership, Mr. Clerides replied:
"First of all, we Cypriots want a settlement of the Cyprus problem, the
reunification of our country and reconciliation among all Cypriots, if
possible before our accession to the EU. We are well aware that a
successful outcome to efforts for a solution would facilitate our European
course. However, the issue of Cyprus' accession to the EU is independent of
a settlement to the Cyprus problem."
Athens `97 world athletics championships
The 6th World Athletics Championships end in Athens this evening with
events at the Olympic Stadium. Last night saw Niki Xanthou win the silver
medal for Greece in the long jump with 6.94m. The gold medal was won by
Lyudmila Galinka with 7.05m, and the bronze by Italy's Fiona May, with
6.91m.
Spain's Abel Anton won the men's marathon gold medal this morning. His
compatriot and reigning champion, Martin Fiz won the silver and Australian
Steve Moneghetti took the bronze.
Anton, the 10,000 metres European champion, finished the 42 kilometre
ancient course from Marathon to Athens in two hours 13 minutes and 16
seconds, just five seconds ahead of Fiz. Moneghetti clocked two hours 14
minutes and 16 seconds.
World Championships: Sunday's schedule
0805 Men's marathon (start) 1015 Men's marathon (finish)
1730 Men's pole vault final 1800 Women's high jump final
1800 Men's discus final 1900 Women's 100 metre hurdles semifinal
1925 Men's 5,000 metres final 1955 Men's 4x100 metres relay final
2015 Women's 4x400 metres relay final 2035 Women's 100 metres hurdles
final 2050 Men's 4x400 metres relay final
Yugoslav FM in Athens on Monday
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic will
pay a working visit to Athens on August 11 to 13. Mr. Milutinovic's visit
comes out after an invitation by his Greek counterpart Theodoros Pangalos.
Incident at Evros border
Turkish soliders on the opposite side of the Evros River, near the Greek-
Turkish borders, opened fire against Greek amateur fishermen while the
latter were trying to bring in a body they discovered floating in the water,
local police announced today.
They said the incident occurrred Thursday afternoon as 65-year-old
Paschalis Efthymiadis and 60-year-old Stavros Aspiotis from Lavara village
in Evros were fishing on the banks of the Evros River.
The two pensioners told police they had spotted a body floating on the
river a short distance from where they were fishing and were trying to
bring it to shore when the Turkish soldiers and inhabitants across the
river started threatening them and shot at them three times.
The two men panicked and gave up their attempts, rushing off to report the
incident to the local police.
The body, police said, belonged to an unidentified man, possibly an illegal
immigrant.
Stadium restriction unrelated to Stockholm bomb
Sports Undersecretary Andreas Fouras, chairman of the Athens '97 organising
committee, today denied press reports that entry to the Panathenian Stadium
in central Athens was prohibited to spectators for the termination of the
women's marathon for security reasons after yesterday's bombing of
Stockholm's Olympic Stadium
Fouras said Athens Mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos had called on sports fans to
greet the marathon runners outside the Stadium, together with the Athens
Municipal Band, "in order to highlight the stadium entrance and place
emphasis on the the termination of the marathon in this historic venue".
The Panathenian Stadium was the site of the first modern Olympic Games in
1896.
"I categorically deny that there were an rumours or intimations related to
security matters," Fouras said.
He added that the Municpality of Athens had been assigned the greeting of
the Marathon runners at the Panathenian Stadium by decision of the Athens
''97 organising committee.
Stockholm, Athens, Rome, Buenos Aires and Cape Town were shortlisted in
March as candidates for hosting the 2004 Olympic Games, the final decision
for which will be taken September 5.
IAAF president praises Athens' public
International Amateur Athletics Federation president, Italy's Primo Nebiolo,
in an interview in Sunday's "To Vima", denied he ever even considered
exploiting the current 6th world athletics championships in Athens to
either promote or undermine the Greek capital's candidacy for the 2004
Olympiad. Rome is considered Athens' main rival for the 2004 Games.
Nebiolo said that statements he had made Monday referring to a low turnout
on the first two days of the championships had been "misunderstood".
He explained that in reponse to a journalists question regarding the first
two days, he had said:
"Perhaps the championships had not been promoted enough, but we mustn't
forget that it was the weekend....let's wait and see over the next few
days. I hope there will be more people."
The IAAF president said in today's interview that Athens had proved to be
an ideal city to host the 6th World Athletics Championshps, chiefly due to
the "wonderful people that had filled the stadium".
OTE to launch mobile phone system in September
OTE, the Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation, will present its first
mobile phone network at the International Fair of Thessaloniki on September
5 and 6.
OTE will do a trial run of the new mobile phones by giving a selected
number to subscribers in the greater Thessaloniki area, from Michaniona to
Kalochori.
The company also expects to give a trial run of its mobile phone network in
Athens, and to cover 60 per cent of Greece by the end of the year.
The network is being developed jointly with Norway's Telenor.
WEATHER
Unsettled over Macedonia and Thrace and the islands of the northern and
eastern Aegean, with cloud, local showers and sporadic thunderstorms.
Mostly fair throughout the rest of the country. Winds northerly, light to
moderate, becoming strong in the southern Aegean. Athens fair with some
cloud expected towards the evening. Similar weather in Thessaloniki with
possibility of rain showers later in the day.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Friday's closing rates - buying US dlr. 291.672
Pound sterling 457.085 Cyprus pd 531.501
French franc 46.273 Swiss franc 190.671
German mark 156.060 Italian lira (100) 15.991
Yen (100) 247.505 Canadian dlr. 210.068
Australian dlr. 213.318 Irish Punt 415.749
Belgian franc 7.557 Finnish mark 52.153
Dutch guilder 138.508 Danish kr. 40.947
Swedish kr. 36.269 Norwegian kr. 37.970
Austrian sch. 22.203 Spanish peseta 1.850
Port. Escudo 1.544
(Y.B.)
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