Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 99-01-21
NEWS IN ENGLISH
Athens, Greece, 21/01/1999 (ANA)
MAIN HEADLINES
- Violence mars Athens student march
- Ministry to extend first school quarter
- FM Pangalos lashes out at all over education
- Govt: no question of Arsenis resigning
- ND deputy tells students not to return 'defeated'
- Police break up drug trafficking ring
- Dutch woman arrested for drug smuggling
- Casus belli cornerstone of Greek-Cypriot defence
- Weather
- Foreign exchange
NEWS IN DETAIL
Violence mars Athens student march
Riot police fired tear gas at masked youths throwing fire bombs and stones
during a student protest march through the centre of Athens on Thursday
morning. Police said that a branch of Ionian Bank, on the corner of Omirou
and Stadiou Streets in downtown Athens, and a television van were targeted
by the students. A student was injured by stones and a passerby knocked
down during the violence. Riot police arrested 20 people, two carrying fire
bombs, after they came under attack. It was the latest clash between young
protestors and police in a series of protest marches held since the
beginning of the year to protest the education ministry's reforms. Police
estimated the number of marchers in Athens at around 6,000 people.
Ministry to extend first school quarter
The education ministry meanwhile said it would issue a circular extending
the first quarter of the school year to February 5. The move is calculated
to allay fears of entire schools missing out on annual examinations in June
due to the loss of class time due to school occupations. The man at the
centre of the protests, Education Minister Gerasimos Arsenis, is expected
to meet later in the day with representatives of private schools as well as
students. Arsenis has issued a new invitation for talks with high school
teachers, who participated in today's march and held a 24-hour strike,
but reiterated the government's position that the new education law
would not be withdrawn. The teachers maintain that no dialogue can be
held until the law is recalled.
FM Pangalos lashes out at all over education
Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos on Thursday attributed responsibility
for the present situation in the education sector to previous governments
of the ruling PASOK party. Pangalos, a member of PASOK's Executive Bureau,
also called on all opposition parties to assume their responsibilities,
accusing them of "deviating" from their stated principles. Asked by
reporters to comment in general on the situation, Pangalos said both high-
school students and teachers were "working unacceptably little", the main
responsibility for which he attributed to previous PASOK governments.
Pangalos expressed full support for the government's education reforms,
saying that in effect they constituted a return to state education "which
we have abolished".
Govt: no question of Arsenis resigning
Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas reiterated that there was no question
of a change in the composition of the government "of which Mr. Arsenis is a
member". Reppas made the statement when asked by reporters whether there
was any possibility that Arsenis would tender his resignation at Friday's
Cabinet meeting. The spokesman criticised opposition parties, particularly
the main opposition New Democracy (ND) party, for their stance on the
government's education reforms and the student protests. He accused ND
leader Costas Karamanlis of being a hypocrite, saying that on the one hand
he was urging high-school students to return to classes, while on the other,
ND cadres active in the Federation of Secondary School Teachers (OLME)
were maintaining a completely different stance in support of school
occupations.
ND deputy tells students not to return 'defeated'
After today's protest march in Athens, a delegation of students handed
resolutions to representatives of parties at the parliament building and
had talks with Parliament President Apostolos Kaklamanis. Tension arose
within the ranks of New Democracy following a meeting between the
delegation and ND deputy Savvas Tsitouridis, who told the students that
they should not return to school "defeated". Tsitouridis' comments provoked
discussion and criticism among other ND deputies.
Police break up drug trafficking ring
Police broke up a drug smuggling ring and arrested three people in the
northern Greek capital of Thessaloniki that was bringing in large quanities
of heroin and cocaine from Bulgaria, police said today. Police confiscated
1.72 kilos of cocaine and 486 grams of heroin as well as a substantial
amount of money. The ring members on the Biulgarian side would bring the
drugs into Greece and hide them in previously specified spots on rural
roads, to be picked up by their Greek accomplices.
Dutch woman arrested for drug smuggling
A Dutch woman was arrested at a northern Greek border post for smuggling
110 grams of heroin from Turkey in plastic eggs she had swallowed, police
said today. They said the woman was arrested at the Eidomenis border post
in Kilkis as she entered Greece from Istanbul via Bulgaria. She told police
she had bought the heroin in Istanbul and planned to smuggle it into The
Netherlands for her own personal use. Kilkis security police were
questioning the woman.
Casus belli cornerstone of Greek-Cypriot defence
"The core and substance of the Greece-Cyprus joint defence doctrine is that
which we call the 'casus belli'", deputy foreign minister Yannos Kranidiotis
said in an exclusive interview with Antenna-Cyprus television station.
Kranidiotis, in the interview which was aired late Wednesday night, said
that the "casus belli (cause of war) is in force", explaining: Any
aggressive action by Turkey against Cyprus is a casus belli for Greece, and
a cause of war with not only Cyprus as the field of battle, but also a
Greek-Turkish war". He said that this acted as a deterrent not only for
Turkey but also for the "major powers that influence things".
WEATHER
Fair weather will prevail in the west and north of Greece today. Light rain
in the rest of the country. Winds variable, moderate to strong in the
Aegean Sea . Overcast in Athens with temperatures between4-12C. Good
weather in Thessaloniki with temperatures from 1-10C.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Thursday's rates (buying) U.S. dollar 276.470
Pound sterling 456.419 Japanese yen (100) 243.189
French franc 48.824 German mark 163.750
Italian lira (100) 16.540 Irish Punt 406.655
Belgian franc 7.939 Finnish mark 53.865
Dutch guilder 145.331 Danish kr. 43.053
Austrian sch. 23.275 Spanish peseta 1.925
Swedish kr. 35.756 Norwegian kr. 37.246
Swiss franc 199.784 Port. Escudo 1.597
Aus. dollar 176.516 Can. dollar 181.100
Cyprus pound 550.064
(M.P.)
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