Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 98-11-08
NEWS IN ENGLISH
Athens, Greece, 08/11/1998 (ANA)
MAIN HEADLINES
- Simitis calls for unity
- OTE stake in Romtelecom
- Kranidiotis on S-300 missiles
- Drug arrest for speeder
- PM to visit Poland
- Nine injured in urban bus accident
- US embassy closed Wednesday
- Weather
- Foreign exchange
NEWS IN DETAIL
Simitis calls for unity
Prime Minister Costas Simitis told the ruling party PASOK Central Committee
on Saturday that the party needed a "strategy for victory" in the lead-up
to general elections and to get the country into economic and monetary
union.
The Central Committee session ended on Saturday night, with the majority
voting through the prime minister's proposals. Sixteen members voted
against.
Summing up two days of debate by the party's supreme decision-making body,
Simitis said the party needing a winning strategy to face off oppposition
in the next electoral contest - European Parliament elections in June 1999 -
in the wake of disappointing results for the ruling party in recent local
government elections.
Simitis called for unity among party ranks. Earlier, Defence Minister Akis
Tsohatzopoulos said that the local elections result had damaged the party's
unity.
OTE stake in Romtelecom
The Romanian government has announced that Greek telecoms organisation OTE
is the successful bidder in the sale of a 35 percent stake in the
Romananian state telecoms company, Romtelecom, an ANA dispatch reported
from Bucharest.
OTE will also take over management of the company.
OTE bid 675 million dollars for the 35 percent share package and voting
rights for an extra 16 percent in Romtelecom's share capital.
Analysts said the development was a major success for OTE, giving it access
to a market of over 20 million consumers with good prospects for development,
as well as a boost for Greek investment in the Balkans.
OTE also holds a 20 percent stake in Serbia's Srbija Telecom.
Kranidiotis on S-300 missiles
Deputy Foreign Minister Yiannos Kranidiotis said that there was no decision
on deploying Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missiles on the Greek island of
Crete rather than Cyprus.
The deputy minister said that the decision in force was the one taken by
the National Council of Cyprus, adding: "The Greek and Cypriot governments
are in constant contact and cooperation, and all possibilities and
alternatives both in the diplomatic and military sectors are being
examined."
Drug arrest for speeder
Police discovered 70 kilos of hashish during a routine police check on
speeding cars over the weekend.
Police found the drugs when police radars detected a car travelling at high
speed on the Thessaloniki-Kavala highway, near the village of Kavalari.
After police motioned for the driver to stop, the driver and his three
passengers opened the car doors and started to run in different directions.
After giving chase, the police captured the driver, an Albanian national. A
subsequent search of car revealed 70.5 kilos of hashish in 76 packages.
The driver said he and his three companions, also Albanians, had taken
delivery of the drugs from the northern Greek town of Edessa and were
headed to Kavala. Their payment for delivering the hashish was two kilos of
the drug.
Police are seeking the other three and will make an official statement on
Monday.
PM to visit Poland
Prime Minister Costas Simitis begins a two-day visit to Warsaw on Monday at
the invitation of his Polish counterpart Jerzy Buzek.
During his stay, Simitis will have talks with Buzek on bilateral and
international issues.
He will also meet with Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski and have
talks with the speakers of Poland's house of representatives and senate and
political party leaders.
Nine injured in urban bus accident
Nine people were injured, two seriously, when a Thessaloniki urban bus
overturned and fell into a ditch on Saturday night, police said.
The injured were transferred to a hospital in the northern Greek capital
where doctors said they were all in a stable condition.
The incident is being investigated by the Thessaloniki traffic police.
US embassy closed Wednesday
The US embassy in Athens, US consulates in Athens and Thessaloniki and all
US federal government offices operating in Greece will be closed on
Wednesday, November 11, in observance of Veterans' Day, a US national
holiday.
WEATHER
Mild weather is forecast for western Greece, eastern Macedonia-Thrace and
the northern Aegean on Monday, and local clouds for the rest of the country
with chances of rain. Athens will be cloudy in the north and east of the
prefecture, with slight chance of rain and temperatures between 11-17 C.
Same for Thessaloniki with temperatures of 6-13 C.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Monday's rates (buying) U.S. dollar 277.105
British pound 460.566 Japanese yen (100) 234.410
French franc 49.788 German mark 167.028
Italian lira (100) 16.884 Irish Punt 415.152
Belgian franc 8.092 Finnish mark 54.957
Dutch guilder 148.071 Danish kr. 43.926
Austrian sch. 23.744 Spanish peseta 1.964
Swedish kr. 35.730 Norwegian kr. 37.672
Swiss franc 202.730 Port. Escudo 1.628
Aus. dollar 174.443 Can. dollar 180.980
Cyprus pound 563.734
(L.G.)
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