Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 98-06-07
NEWS IN ENGLISH
Athens, Greece, 07/06/1998 (ANA)
MAIN HEADLINES
- Long weekend mass exodus road toll
- Imported used car prices to drop: newspaper
- Legal battle over Ionian Bank strike
- Turkish proposal for Madrid communique "legal coverage" rejected
- Parthenon marbles damaged in London museum: UK newspaper report
- President to attend Kasos anniversary
- EU notes improvement in Greece's economy
- Premier welcomes BSEC's new international status
- Foreign, Defence Ministers comment on NATO CBM Aegean agreement
- Macedonia-Thrace Minister denies Kosovo refugees' centers report
- Body of foreign woman found in Glyfada identified
- US national rescued off Lefkada
- Kastoria lake suicide
- Greek, FYROM representatives meet in NY
- Report on Yakovlev air crash to be published soon
- Consumer price inflation holds steady at 5.3 pct
- Acropolis Rally underway
- Weather
- Foreign exchange
NEWS IN DETAIL
Long weekend mass exodus road toll
Athenians and other Greek urban dwellers are taking advantage of the
Pentacostal long weekend to visit the countryside and beaches. Authorities
report that up to 250 thousand vehicles have left Athens since Friday, not
without the obligatory carnage that follows such much exodus: 17 people
have lost their lives and 234 injured in 188 car accidents since Friday,
throughout the country. Traffic police announced measures for the safe
return of holiday makers, including extra patrols and assignment of
additional highway lanes to Athens in-bound traffic.
Imported used car prices to drop: newspaper
The price of imported used vehicles is expected to drop from January 1999,
according to a "Vima" newspaper report which cites legislation under
preparation, to go before a government economic committee next week. The
new measures are also expected to result in a price hike of used vehicles
sold in Greece as well as a moderate rise for new cars and motorcycles.
Legal battle over Ionian Bank strike
The suit of the Ionian Bank management against the General Confederetion of
Greek Workers (GSEE) for coverage offered to the bank's striking employees,
is expected to go before the Athens First Instance Court on Tuesday. Ionian
management are pushing for a court order to end the strike, called in
opposition to government privatisation plans.
Turkish proposal for Madrid communique "legal coverage" rejected
Greece rejected a Turkish proposal for "legal coverage" of the Madrid
communique between the two countries, accusing Turkey of lack of will to
apply such agreements. Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said "there is
no shortage of texts and legal commitments, what is missing is the will on
Turkey's side to apply them... Let Turkey not believe that it can cover up
this gap with oriental trickery, which we are quite accustomed to dealing
with", concluded Mr. Reppas.
Parthenon marbles damaged in London museum: UK newspaper report
The Parthenon Marbles - the 5th century B.C. artworks taken from the
Parthenon to England last century and the focus of a bitter ownership
dispute between Athens and London - have suffered irrevocable damage at the
hands of British Museum employees, according to a report in today's Sunday
Mail.
The British newspaper cited British historian William St. Clair saying that
the friezes suffered "significant and irrevocable" damage some sixty years
ago when museum staff tried to restore the friezes to what was mistakenly
thought to be their original colour.
The revelation is made in St. Clair's new book "Lord Elgin and the Marbles"
and was for years "a strictly internal matter". St. Clair discovered the
damage while doing research in the museum's archives.
The news of the damage is considered to be a strong rebuff to the standing
refusal by the British authorities to return the Marbles to Greece. The
British Museum has long said that the Marbles are better off in London,
away from the ravages of pollution in Athens.
Last week, in response to a Labour MP's call that the Marbles be returned,
British Heritage Secretary Chris Smith reiterated that argument.
The marbles, dating back to the 5th century BC, were removed from the
Parthenon by the British diplomat Lord Elgin with permission from the local
Ottoman administrators. Elgin removed the frieze and other parts of the
massive Parthenon temple dedicated to the ancient goddess Athena.
President to attend Kasos anniversary
President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos is visiting the remote
island of Kasos, to attend anniversary events for the destruction of the
island by Ottoman forces.
EU notes improvement in Greece's economy
A European Union Commission report of the course of the Greek economy says
that the country "has made substantial progress in reducing the large
imbalances in its public finances over recent years".
"Its deficit declined to 4 per cent of GDP in 1997 and is projected to
below the Maastricht Treaty reference value in 1998, while the public debt
ratio, after remaining stable since 1993, started to decline in 1997," the
report states.
National Economy Minister Yiannos Papantoniou yesterday expressed
satisfaction over findings on the Greek economy, contained in the European
Commission's report on the basic orientations of the economic policies by
th e 15 member-states, adopted by the EU's finance ministers' council
(ECOFIN) yesterday.
Premier welcomes BSEC's new international status
Prime Minister Costas Simitis yesterday welcomed the outcome of a Black Sea
Economic Cooperation pact (BSEC) summit, which formally upgraded the five-
year-old regional grouping to international status.
The 11 members of BSEC signed a charter at the summit in Yalta, Ukraine,
allowing the group's elevation to an official international organisation.
The BSEC is comprised of Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Georgia, Romania,
Bulgaria, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova and Greece.
Mr. Simitis told reporters after attending the signing ceremony that Greece,
the only BSEC member in the European Union, would work to strengthen ties
between the group and the 15-nation bloc.
Foreign, Defence Ministers comment on NATO CBM Aegean agreement
Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos said yesterday that Greece would do
everything possible to make even more specific NATO Secretary-General
Javier Solana's announcement on a Greek-Turkish agreement to implement a
1988 memorandum.
Mr. Solana yesterday announced that Greece and Turkey had agreed to fully
implement accords signed in 1988 concerning rules of conduct related to
military activities in the Aegean and, when possible, to supplement
them.
While describing the announcement as "quite general", Mr. Pangalos
acknowledged that it contained "a number of new elements".
National Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos said later that although Mr.
Solana's announcement expressed the common political will of Greece and
Turkey to implement the agreement, certain "arrangements" required further
elaboration "as a supplement or prerequisite" for its realisation.
Macedonia-Thrace Minister denies Kosovo refugees' centers report
The government is not at the present time considering establishing
reception centres for refugees from the Serbian province of Kosovo,
Macedonia-Thrace Minister Philippos Petsalnikos told the state-run ERT-3
radio station in Thessaloniki yesterday.
The minister denied a report in a local newspaper according to which new
reception centres had begun to be set up for refugees from strife-torn
Kosovo.
Body of foreign woman found in Glyfada identified
The body of a woman found near the Glyfada Golf Club on May 30, was
identified as that of 35-year-old Irish national Maire Cronin. Cronin,
originaly from Dublin, came to Greece on May 22 and visited the island of
Spetses until the 29th, when she returned to the port of Piraeus by
hydrofoil. She was due to fly on the following day to London, where she
lived and worked in a health insurance firm. Her body was found on the
perimeter of the Golf Club covered with branches. According to forensic
reports, she died of head wounds inflicted by an axe or a buther's knife.
Police investigations continue.
US national rescued off Lefkada
An American national, who had fallen off a Patras-Brindisi passenger ferry,
was plucked from the sea off the southern coast of the Ionian island of
Lefkada by a passing fishing boat.
Dorian Briselston, 21, told authorities he had fallen from a ferry and had
been in the water for about three hours before being rescued by the fishing
boat. He was taken to a Lefkada hospital for medical check, while local
port authorities are conducting a preliminary investigation.
Kastoria lake suicide
A young construction worker apparently took his own life yesterday, jumping
off a boat into the water of Kastoria lake, in nothern Greece. The body of
Antonis Zeketis, 28, was recovered today from the lake by local fishermen.
Greek, FYROM representatives meet in NY
Greece's permanent UN representative met on Wednesday with his Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) counterpart to exchange views within
the context of Article V of a 1995 interim agreement between Greece and
FYROM.
Greece's Christos Zaharakis and FYROM's Ivan Tosevski's meeting was held
under the auspices of UN mediator Cyrus Vance.
An announcement issued yesterday by the UN secretary general's spokesman
said the two parties agreed to hold a new meeting after the summer.
Meanwhile Athens Mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos visited FYROM and met
President Kiro Gligorov and Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski underlining
the two countries' willingness for closer ties.
Mr. Avramopoulos' visit aims to explore cooperation prospects at a local
government level.
Report on Yakovlev air crash to be published soon
Authorities have completed a report on the December 17 crash of a Ukrainian
Yakovlev-42 aircraft that cost the lives of all 72 people on board and will
be handing it to the Ukrainian and Russian governments shortly for comments,
Transport and Co mmunications Minister Tassos Mandelis said on Thursday.
Mr. Mandelis said Russian and Ukrainian experts would examine the report.
He was speaking in Thessaloniki after relatives of the people killed in the
crash held a news conference to express their concern over the delay in the
issuing of the report.
Press sources said the report attributed responsibility for the accident to
a combination of technical factors and human error.
Consumer price inflation holds steady at 5.3 pct
Consumer price inflation in May held steady at 5.3 percent year-on-year
from April, the Greek National Statistics Service (GNSS) said yesterday.
Inflation is expected to resume its downward trend in June after absorbing
the impact of a 13.8 percent devaluation when the drachma joined the
European Union's exchange rate mechanism on March 14.
Acropolis Rally underway
Mechanical trouble forced Finland's two-time world championship driver Tomi
Makinnen (Mitsubishi, Lancer) out of the 45th international Rally Acropolis,
which began today at the foot of Athens' most famous landmark - the "Sacred
Rock".
The rally began this morning with the participation of 103 cars. The winner
of the first special section "Pateras", was Belgian driver Bruno Tiry (Ford
Escort, WRC) who covered the 22.29 kms distance in 14 minutes and 2
seconds. Second was Britain's Colin McRay (Subaru Ibreza) with 14:07 and
third Italian Piero Liati (Subaru Ibreza) with 14:12. Greek driver Leonidas
Kyrkos (Ford Escort) came in 11th with 14:53.
The large crowd attendance forced the cancellation of the second special
section "Skourta", a 20.65 km stretch. It is not yet known whether the
section will be cancelled or repeated.
The participating cars will cover an overall distance of 1031.97 kilometres
over three days, which will include 17 special sections totalling 388.76
kilometres.
Today's race ends at Delphi. On Monday, competitors will set out from and
return to Delphi after covering a total distance of 336.76 kilometres.
The third and last stage of the rally the following day will again be run
from Delphi and back again, this time covering a distance of 328.73
kilometres.
Weather
Fine weather is expected throughout the country for most of Monday. Central
and northern in-land areas can expect some cloud and scattered showers with
the possibility of local thunderstorms later in the day. Northwesterly
moderate winds will prevail. Athens will be fine in the morning, some cloud
in the afternoon with a temperature range of 19-33 degrees centigrade.
Similar forecast for Thessaloniki with a chance of a shower later in the
day, temps 17-32.
Foreign exchange
Friday's rates (buying) U.S. dollar 297.650
British pound 487.965 Japanese yen(100) 213.826
French franc 50.207 German mark 168.342
Italian lira (100) 17.097 Irish Punt 425.171
Belgian franc 8.161 Finnish mark 55.383
Dutch guilder 149.351 Danish kr. 44.200
Austrian sch. 23.933 Spanish peseta 1.981
Swedish kr. 38.349 Norwegian kr. 40.063
Swiss franc 202.308 Port. Escudo 1.645
Aus. dollar 179.175 Can. dollar 204.531
Cyprus pound 572.067
(K.G.)
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