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Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 99-04-04Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr>NEWS IN ENGLISHAthens, Greece, 04/04/1999 (ANA)MAIN HEADLINES
NEWS IN DETAILTsohatzopoulos: Ethnic cleansing aims at changing borders in regionNational defence minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos was categorical in his condemnation of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, charging that the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo is aimed at changing borders in the region and making all the peoples of the Balkans hostage to the problem. Speaking to reporters in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Tsohatzopoulos said Greece was "entitled" to make such charges "because it has been at the receiving end of such a policy with the persecution by the Turks in the Black Sea region and Asia Minor in 1922 and in Cyprus in 1974". Then too, he continued, the objective was to change existing borders. Asked to comment on NATO's bombing of the centre of Belgrade, Tsohatzopoulos said it did not matter what he believed. "The Yugoslav leadership must take a position about how to bring an end to this situation," he added. Tsohatzopoulos stressed the urgent need for humanitarian aid to be sent to refugees leaving Kosovo and commented ironically on the fact that European Union services were closed yesterday because of the Easter holiday. "The bombing couldn't stop for Easter, but they have a public holiday when it comes to humanitarian aid," he said. Tsohatzopoulos reiterated his opposition to any use of NATO ground forces in Kosovo. Tsohatzopoulos' remarks in Skopje were strongly criticised by Greek opposition parties. "The despicable statements by the defence minister, with which he attributes responsibility to the leadership of New Yugoslavia for the war, absolves NATO and the EU, the real culprits, of their responsibility for the crime being committed," the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) said in a statement. The KKE said Tsohatzopoulos' statements "confirm that Greece has an extremely dangerous government, which is participating in the slaughter of the neighbouring people while at the same time hypocritically and cravenly maintaining the opposite". Democratic Social Movement (DHKKI) leader Dimitris Tsovolas described Tsohatzopoulos' references to "ethnic cleansing" as "unacceptable" and "abject". "Contrary to what the government and Prime Minister Costas Simitis were hypocritically declaring in public until just yesterday, (the minister's statements) in effect provide complete justification for the inhuman NATO bombing of Yugoslavia and our friends, the Serb people, which completely violates all rules of international law," Tsovolas said. The Coalition of the Left and Progress expressed deep concern "that we are at the beginning of a new period in the Balkans, in which the problem of borders may arise at any moment and the problem of minorities may worsen". Addressing the Coalition's central committee, party leader Nikos Konstantopoulos also charged that the Greek government bore heavy responsibility for the situation "because it added its signature at all the stages so far of NATO's intervention against Yugoslavia". Second bomb targets PASOK A makeshift explosive device exploded early Saturday morning outside a branch office of the ruling PASOK party in the Athens suburb of Galatsi, causing some damage to the building but no injuries. The bomb, which had been placed just outside the entrance to the office, consisted of a small quantity of dynamite, a detonator, two clocks and a battery. No warning was given prior to the blast and no group has yet claimed responsibility. Officers of the anti-terrorist squad said however they suspected the November 17 terrorist group was behind the attack. The officers based their suspicions on the way the bomb had been wired. PASOK's headquarters in downtown Athens were the target of a failed rocket attack on Thursday morning. Blue bus stoppage Monday Athens blue buses will not be running Monday from 5-9pm as bus drivers hold a four-hour stoppage to attend their general assembly and decide on further protests against government changes in working schedules. Inflation dropping Core inflation, which does not include fresh fruit and vegetables, will drop 3.8-4.0 percent in March from 4.5 percent the previous month, according to banking circles. 2004 Olympics accomodations The hotels currently operating in the greater Athens area are sufficient to accomodate visitors' needs during the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, and in the eventuality that problems arise, they can easily be solved through temporary accommodation such as cruiseships, the Institute for Tourism Research and Forecasting said in a report. OTE tender for consultant OTE, the national telecoms of Greece, has announced a tender for a financial consultant to provide technical and financial advisory services on management of its large real estate holdings near Athens new international airport being built at Spata. The deadline for bids is May 5. US's Talbott in Greece Foreign Minister George Papandreou will hold talks with visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott tonight. Talbott arrives in Athens tonight as part of his tour of Balkan capitals at the head of a U.S. delegation to Tirana, Skopje and other countries affected by the Kosovo crisis. WEATHERUnsettled in most parts of Greece on Sunday, with cloud, rain, local storms but some periods of sunshine, mainly in the south. Winds will be northerly, light to moderate, in western, northern and central parts of the country and southerly, with the same strength, in the rest of Greece. Unsettled in Athens, with chance of showers or brief storm and temperatures 9-18C. Same in Thessaloniki, temperatures 8-16C.FOREIGN EXCHANGEMonday's rates (buying) U.S. dollar 300.576 Pound sterling 481.874 Japanese yen (100) 249.151 French franc 49.346 German mark 165.500 Italian lira (100) 16.717 Irish Punt 411.001 Belgian franc 8.024 Luxembourg franc 8.024 Finnish mark 54.441 Dutch guilder 146.883 Danish kr. 43.642 Austrian sch. 23.523 Spanish peseta 1.945 Swedish kr. 36.436 Norwegian kr. 38.819 Swiss franc 202.983 Port. Escudo 1.615 Aus. dollar 190.464 Can. dollar 199.432 Cyprus pound 560.361 Euro 323.690(L.G.) Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |