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Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 99-06-20
NEWS IN ENGLISH
Athens, Greece, 20/06/1999 (ANA)
MAIN HEADLINES
- G8 leaders call for Cyprus talks under U.N. chief
- US says has no proof of PKK training in Greece
- Tsohatzopoulos says Kosovars' disarming of paramount importance
- Kranidiotis calls for long-term strategy for Balkans
- Cook terms Greece's role in the Balkans 'valuable'
- Scottish officer takes 'the low road' to Pristina
- Equity prices end week with moderate gains
- Seven-year bond issue
- Drys to visit UK
- Cosmote signs supply deal with Intracom
- Gov't promotes Greek-produced meat as safe alternative
- Mismanagement, lack of employees blamed for OA's condition
- Weather
- Foreign exchange
MAIN HEADLINES
- G8 leaders call for Cyprus talks under U.N. chief
Leaders of the Group of Seven leading industrialised nations and Russia on
Sunday called on the U.N. chief to bring both sides in Cyprus to the
negotiating table in the autumn in order to resolve the island nation's
division.
"The members of the G8 ... urge the UN Secretary-General in accordance with
relevant UN Security Council resolutions to invite the leaders of the two
parties to negotiations in the fall of 1999," the G8 leaders said in a
communique released after a summit in Cologne.
"They call upon the two leaders to give their full support to such a
comprehensive negotiation, under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General,"
the statement said.
The G8 leaders also said that in accepting an invitation for talks from U.N
Secretary General Kofi Annan, the two "parties/leaders" should commit
themselves to four principles.
The principles stated in the communique were to set no pre-conditions for
talks, put all issues on the negotiating table, make a commitment in good
faith to continue to negotiate until a settlement is reached, and give full
consideration to relevant UN resolutions and treaties.
"The Cyprus problem has gone unresolved for too long. Resolution of this
problem would not only benefit all the people of Cyprus, but would also
have a positive impact on peace and stability in the region," the G8
leaders said.
"Both parties to the dispute have legitimate concerns that can and must be
addressed. The members of the G8 are convinced that only comprehensive
negotiations covering all relevant issues can do this," the statement
added.
Finally, it said that the G8 leaders undertook to give their full and
sustained backing to the negotiating process and hoped that it would prove
possible for its outcome to be reported to a summit of the Organisation for
Security and Cooperation in Europe due to be held in November.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and occupied
37 percent of the island's territory.
- US says has no proof of PKK training in Greece
A US State Department official on Friday told the ANA in Washington that
the US "have no proof that at this period Greece offers operational
assistance or trainining facilities" to the Kurdish separatist movement
PKK.
The official reiterated that the US administration had knowledge "of
reports of PKK terrorists training in Greece a few years ago". He also said
Washington and Athens were in close cooperation in combatting terrorism.
- Tsohatzopoulos says Kosovars' disarming of paramount importance
National Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos underlined in Brussels on
Friday that the disarming of the so-called "Kosovo Liberation Army" (KLA)
is of paramount importance in implementing the Kosovo peace agreement.
The Greek minister spoke at NATO's joint foreign affairs and national
defence ministers meeting, which concluded here late last night. Greece was
also represented by Foreign Minister George Papandreou.
He made the statement in reference to the content of talks at the NATO
session.
Mr. Tsohatzopoulos said the expected signing of an agreement between the
KLA, or UCK as it is also known, and the leadership of the KFOR peacekeeping
contingent constitutes the last step in the implementation of the UN
Security Council's resolutions, ad ding that measures should be taken to
end the takeover of state institutions and sites by Kosovo Albanian
rebels.
On his part, Mr. Papandreou noted that due to the absence of US Secretary
of State Madeleine Albright, he did not have the opportunity of meeting her
as he had expected. He also underlined the role Greece will play in
providing humanitarian aid to Serbi a and Kosovo, and further said that
restrictions must be lifted soon on oil supplies for Serbia. He also
stressed that if this does not happen this year's farm production will be
lost, while major problems will be created in food supplies in the
winter.
Mr. Papandreou went on to say that KFOR must ensure that as many as
possible of the 50,000 Serbian refugees who left Kosovo in past days return
and underlined the very positive role played by the Serbian Orthodox Church
and that the protection of religi ous monuments should be one of KFOR's
main tasks.
Mr. Papandreou said he met briefly with his Turkish counterpart Ismail Cem
and discussed what the latter mentioned in a recent letter, adding that
Athens will reply in detail to Ankara in the next few days.
- Kranidiotis calls for long-term strategy for Balkans
Alternate foreign minister Yannos Kranidiotis today urged a long-term
strategy that would tackle the practical problems in the Balkans, noting
that the war in Yugoslavia may have ended, but the crisis in the wider
region of the western Balkans had not. He also called for the Balkan
countries' membership in the European Union. In an exclusive interview with
ANA, Kranidiotis said the European Parliament elections had ended, and so
had the war, but the crisis in the wider region of the western Balkans had
not. "The war was simply a phenomenon of this ongoing crisis. The true
causes of the crisis must be sought chiefly in (the region's) economic
underdevelopment and lack of institutions and democratic operation, and
also in the lack of prospects for the future of the countries of the
Balkans," he said. "For this reason," he added, "Greece believed -- even
before the war and throughout the war -- and continues to believe today
that the crisis cannot be tackled through patchwork or corrective moves,
but rather a long-term strategy is necessary which will give answers
to the practical problems."
- Cook terms Greece's role in the Balkans 'valuable'
Greece's special role as the only Balkan country which is a member of the
EU and NATO has been particularly valuable in reaching the peace agreement
on Kosovo and will continue to be so in the involvement of the two
organisations in promoting a stability pact in the peninsula, British
Foreign Minister Robin Cook said on Thursday. "I would like to officially
express my admiration for the positive contribution of Greece and (foreign
minister) Mr. (George) Papandreou in the diplomatic efforts during the
crisis in Kosovo. I recognise Greece's special position as a member of NATO
and the European Union, and as the only EU member state in the Balkans,
which provided it with special knowledge about the area and, of course,
gave it the potential to have a significant contribution to the diplomatic
efforts," he said after two hours of talks with his Greek counterpart
here.
- Scottish officer takes 'the low road' to Pristina
A Scottish officer of the British army heading for the bombed-out Kosovo
capital of Pristina from the northern Greek port of Thessaloniki lost his
direction and ended up last night outside the Rendis central produce market
near Piraeus, where his jeep ran out of gas, police said on Friday.
Sergeant Gordon Easton, 40, set out from Thessaloniki on Thursday in a jeep
to join the NATO-led multinational peacekeeping force in Kosovo. But he
apparently lost his way after joining the Athens-Thessaloniki national
highway and began driving in the opposite direction, eventually running out
of gas outside the entrance to the produce market at midnight last night.
He flashed the jeep's headlights at an approaching police patrol car, and
told the officers "I'm on my way to Pristina and ran out of petrol".
After checking the sergeant's documents, the surprised police officers
notified the nearby Moschato police precinct, which in turn notiified the
British Embassy in Athens. At the request of an Embassy official, Easton
spent the night at the precinct and departed for Pristina at dawn on
Friday.
- Equity prices end week with moderate gains
Equity prices ended the week with moderate gains reversing a six-day
decline on the Athens Stock Exchange. The general index, however, was
unable to surpass the 4,000 level ending 0.35 percent higher at 3,968.04
points, off the the day's highs. Turnover was 155.292 billion drachmas with
33,406,382 shares changing hands. The Leasing and Banks sectors outperformed
the market ending 2.28 and 1.15 percent higher respectively. Other sector
indices ended as follows: Insurance (+0.11 pct), Investment (-0.23 pct),
Construction (-1.40 pct), Industrials (-0.57 pct), Miscellaneous (-0.23
pct) and Holding (-0.32 pct). The parallel market index for smaller
capitalisation stocks ended 0.47 percent higher while the FTSE/ASE 20 index
for heavy traded stocks and blue chips rose 0.72 percent to 2,360 points.
Broadly, decliners led advancers by 150 to 130 with another 17 issues
unchanged.
- Seven-year bond issue
The finance ministry will auction a seven-year bond issue, worth 120
billion drachmas, in paperless form next Tuesday, June 22. The issue will
pay a 6.0 percent annual coupon. The ministry will not pay a premium to
primary dealers.
- Drys to visit UK
Deputy Finance Minister George Drys will visit Britain June 21-24 for talks
with British government ministers focused on the country's tax system. Drys
wants to be informed on the operation of the British tax settlement system
which enables taxpayers to calculate their taxes by themselves and pay the
first installment simultaneously with the submission of tax statements. He
aims to adopt a similar system in Greece. Drys will meet with UK's Treasury
Undersecretary on tax issues Mrs Barbara Roche, with Treasury Undersecretary
Dawn Rimarolo also chairman of the EU's tax committee, with Undersecretary
for public sector's reform P. Kilfoyle and other government officials.
- Cosmote signs supply deal with Intracom
Cosmote yesterday signed a mobile telephone equipment supply contract worth
15 billion drachmas with a consortium comprising Intracom, Ericsson and
Intracom Construction. The four-year turnkey deal is for the supply of base
stations and other equipment, and also includes maintenance, Cosmote said
in a statement. Selection of the consortium was made through an international
tender.
- Gov't promotes Greek-produced meat as safe alternative
Representatives of several veterinary organisations yesterday reassured the
public that Greek meat is safe, cautioning consumers to avoid fat, where
dioxin accumulates. However, veterinarians complained that checks taking
place in the country are inadequate. On his part, Agriculture Minister
George Anomeritis said all the quantities of confiscated Belgian meat will
be destroyed. In another interview, Mr. Anomeritis said fresh milk on sale
in the Greek market is unadulterated and locally produced. He said fresh
milk is not imported, while all other products are checked as imported
goods, adding that a further 200 tonnes of fresh products (meat, mayonnaise
and poultry) have already been destroyed. Mr. Anomeritis said stringent
checks have taken place and are continuing to take place at the source of
dioxin infection, which is fodder crops for animals.
- Mismanagement, lack of employees blamed for OA's condition
Lack of management and failure to satisfy employees' wage demands are the
causes of yet more problems at debt-ridden Olympic Airways (OA), a unionist
said yesterday. An official of the stewards' union, Vassilis Yiannakopoulos,
said OA's subsidiary "Macedonian Airlines" and pesonnel shortages were the
main causes for the state-run carrier's problems. He also claimed that
Macedonian siphons off up to 16 per cent of OA 's regular flights.
WEATHER
Cloud, scattered showers and storms are forecast for western Greece on
Monday. Sunny spells are expected in the rest of the country, turning to
showers and storms in mainland Greece and the northern Aegean during the
day, and then easing off. Winds southwesterly, light to moderate. Mostly
sunny weather in Athens, turning to scattered cloud, and maybe rain, in the
evening. Temperatures ranging from 22C to 34C. Cloudy spells in Thessaloniki
turning to rainy or stormy weather in the evening. Temperatures between 20C
and 28C.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Monday's rates (buying)
U.S. dollar 310.863
Pound sterling 495.663
Japanese yen (100) 260.856
French franc 48.997
German mark 164.328
Italian lira (100) 16.599
Irish Punt 408.091
Belgian franc 7.967
Luxembourg franc 7.967
Finnish mark 54.055
Dutch guilder 145.844
Danish kr. 43.233
Austrian sch. 23.357
Spanish peseta 1.931
Swedish kr. 36.744
Norwegian kr. 39.511
Swiss franc 201.450
Port. Escudo 1.603
Can. dollar 212.189
Aus. dollar 203.231
Cyprus pound 557.008
Euro 321.398
(C.S.)
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