Athens News Agency: News in English (AM), 98-06-09

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr>

NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 09/06/1998 (ANA)

MAIN HEADLINES

• Greece urges Belgrade to start dialogue on Kosovo
• Venizelos reiterates demand for return of Parthenon marbles
• Pangalos calls on Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch
• Athens says Ankara lacks volition to implement commitments
• Karamanlis accuses government of ineffectiveness
• Swedish national faces multiple charges
• Open-air party ravers arrested
• Conference on combined transport in southeastern Europe
• Police officers suspended for dancing to pro-junta song
• French driver takes lead in Acropolis Rally
• Weather
• Foreign exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

Greece yesterday strongly reiterated its call on Yugoslavia to begin immediately a dialogue with Kosovo's Albanian leadership.

Alternate Foreign Minister George Papandreou told a press conference at the end of a European Union Foreign Ministers meeting in Luxembourg that Greece was particularly concerned over the crisis in Kosovo and the possibility of its expansion in particular, blami ng mostly Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic for the worsening of the crisis.

A similar call was made by Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos during a two- day meeting in Istanbul of the southeast European nations foreign ministers.

Mr. Papandreou said that the repercussions of the crisis were already being felt in many parts of northern Greece due to an increase in the number of refugees from the Kosovo area.

Mr. Papandreou placed the biggest part of responsibility for the worsening of the crisis on Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, calling on him to start a dialogue with Kosovo's leadership immediately towards granting greater autonomy in the framework of the Yugoslav state.

But he added: "We also see an upsurge in the fighting of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army, the terrorist activities. Those two elements combined have created a very volatile situation."

Mr. Pangalos told reporters he had made "a friendly overture" to his Yugoslav counterpart to listen to his counterparts' opinions on the situation in Kosovo, during a two-day meeting which began yesterday in Istanbul.

Venizelos reiterates demand for return of Parthenon marbles

Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos, citing a report in the London Sunday Mail of irreparable damage caused to the Parthenon Marbles kept in the Brituish Museum, renewed on Saturday Greece's demand for their return to Greece.

"Unfortunately what is being revealed to the wider public on the way the Parthenon Marbles are being handled by the British Museum was known to the experts and have been stressed repeatedly by Greek scientists," Mr. Venizelos said in a statement.

The reports, he said, "demolish once and for all the baseless and provocative British argument that the Parthenon Marbles are protected and displayed better in London than in their natural environment in Athens".

Mr. Venizelos went on to note the significance of the efforts being made by the "British Committee for the Return of the Friezes", saying that "this reduces even further the number of those who have the temerity to argue against the return of the Parthenon marbles."

The British newspaper cited British historian William St. Clair as 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.

Mr. Venizelos congratulated St. Clair over his "research courage" and announced that the British scientists will be in Greece early next month to brief Greek counterparts over his findings.

Film Director and president of the Melina Merkouri Foundation Jules Dassin yesterday called on the ruling British Labour Party to abide by its promises to return the Parthenon Friezes,

The London press yesterday gave broad coverage to the revelations.

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.

Pangalos calls on Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch

Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos yesterday paid a courtesy call on Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos at the Patriarchate's seat in the Phanar.

Vartholomeos underlined the respect and honour the Patriarchate has for Greece and its Church. Mr. Pangalos in turn stressed the deep feelings of the Greek people for the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

Vartholomeos said he would soon be visiting Athens, in return for the visit to the Phanar of new Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Christodoulos. Christodoulos is scheduled to visit the Phanar next Saturday.

Athens says Ankara lacks volition to implement commitments

Commenting on a proposal by Turkey last Friday for Greece to accept the "transformation"of last year's Madrid communique into a legal document, government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said on Saturday that texts and legal commitments existed and criticised Turkey for lacking the volition to implement them in practice.

In July 1997 Athens and Ankara had signed in Madrid a joint communique on principles that should govern bilateral relations and good neighbourliness.

The Turkish side was commenting on Friday on a statement by NATO Secretary- General Javier Solana on confidence-building measures in the Aegean, a statement that the Turkish Foreign Ministry had said was an important step.

Karamanlis accuses government of ineffectiveness

Main opposition New Democracy party leader Costas Karamanlis on Sunday criticised Prime Minister Costas Simitis of unreliability, ineffectiveness and of lacking any relation between words and deeds.

Speaking to ND cadres in the town of Thebes shortly before midnight, at the end of his three-day tour of the prefectures of Fthiotida and Voiotia in central Greece, Mr. Karamanlis said that the government had failed in all sectors and "is leading the co untry to decline with the citizens being the victims."

"The Simitis government is fearful and is hiding from problems. The worst way for you to react to policy is to observe an ostrich policy when you see that a problem is growing, because then you are unworthy to rule this country and irresponsible before the nation," he said, referring to the government's agricultural policy.

Mr. Karamanlis also expressed certainty that ND will win the next general elections in the country.

Swedish national faces multiple charges

A Swedish national of Palestinian origin, was charged yesterday with theft and possession of fake travel documents and narcotics, while Iraklion police continue to investigate whether the man is linked to the setting of forest fires on the island of Corfu in 1994.

Abu Khader Abraham Mohamed, 50, was arrested on Friday after two German tourists complained to police that he had drugged their drinks and stolen a watch and 1,500 drachmas from them.

A subsequent search of Mohamed's room revealed five passports, two of which were fake, and film of the Corfu forest fires.

Speaking to reporters, Mohamed denied all charges of involvement in arson attacks or links to Turkish para-state organisations, saying he was a Palestinian who had lived in Sweden for a number of years.

Mohamed's hearing has been set for Thursday.

The arrest of a Turkish national for a traffic violation near Iraklion earlier fuelled speculation, however police announced that the motorist was released after investigation.

Open-air party ravers arrested

Police on Saturday night arrested 37 young people of both sexes, most of them minors, for taking part in a weekend rave drug party at the foot of Mt. Dirfys, near Halkis on the island of Evia.

The youths, detained on drug charges, were among 200 others, including pupils, students and soldiers, who joined the open-air party.

Police, who raided the area, said that most of them were under the influence or in possession of drugs such as cocaine, LSD, heroin, hashish and "ecstasy" pills.

Conference on combined transport in southeastern Europe

Special scientists and representatives from 17 countries attending a conference on Combined Transport in Southeastern Europe, organised in Thessaloniki by Helexpo and the Aristotelion University's Communication Technique Laboratory, reached common positions and proposals on the development of combined transport in this part of the world on Saturday.

Measures and actions proposed and which constitute the conclusions of the conference could be characterised as the "Agenda 2000 for transport in southeastern Europe" and the more than 200 delegates called on everybody involved in this sector to contribu te towards its implementation.

The most important actions proposed with the Agenda 2000 concern measures aimed at simplifying and speeding up processes for crossing the borders of countries in southeastern Europe.

The foreign delegates were from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Italy, Cyprus, Britain, the Netherlands, Yugoslavia, Hungary, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania and Turkey.

Police officers suspended for dancing to pro-junta song

Greek Police Chief Athanassios Vasilopoulos suspended four members of the Polykastro Kilkis, northern Greece, police on Friday for dancing to a pro- junta song at a tavern and shooting in the air. He also ordered them to be brought before a relevant police council and face the possibility of being cashiered.

The four are George Halkidis, Constantine Lambrou, Olga Maltsi and Eleni Savvidou. According to the charge, they visited the tavern "Steki tou Vangou" in Goumenissa Kilkis last Tuesday night where they had stayed until the early hours of the morning and danced to the song "George Papadopoulos hold the keys, hold them tight" and fired shots in the air.

French driver takes lead in Acropolis Rally

French driver Didier Auriol took the lead in the 45th Rally Acropolis yesterday, ahead of Briton Colin McRae and Finn Juha Kankunnen.

Auriol, driving a Toyota, took advantage of a tyre selection problem by the Subaru driver to take the lead.

Carlos Sainz of Spain, the world championship leader, was in fourth place in his Toyota.

The winner will be crowned in Delphi this afternoon.

WEATHER

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

(C.E.)

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