Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 99-07-13

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

NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 13/07/1999 (ANA)

MAIN HEADLINES

• No change in Greek stance on Turkey EU bid
• Defence minister urges crisis prevention
• Missing Australian tourist found dead
• One dies in boating accident
• Parliament president meets Tunisian Defence Minister
• Government unaware of Milosevic travel plans
• Parachutist plunges to his death
• Two injured in bungled firebomb attack
• Two children arrested for assault on another
• Earthquake registered off Zakynthos
• Weather
• Foreign Exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

The Greek government on Tuesday denied that Alternate Foreign Minister Yiannos Kranidiotis had made a statement dissociating Turkey's designation as a candidate for European Union accession from the fulfilment of conditions set at the most recent EU summit in Cologne. Denying that Kranidiotis had ever made such a statement to Reuters, government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said the alternate minister had constantly reiterated the positions of the Greek government on the issue "which have not changed and concern the fulfilment of all the preconditions by Turkey, which has no other way of being designated a candidate country".

Defence minister urges crisis prevention

National Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos on Tuesday underlined the need to formulate conditions to prevent crises developing into conflicts as he opened an Athens meeting of the military-political committee of the Southeast Europe multinational peacekeeping force. He said that those who believed that there could be peace and security in Europe without ensuring security in the Balkans were making a "terrible mistake" The committee is discussing matters concerning progress towards setting up the force's headquarters, a map exercise to be held at the end of the year, setting up the force's staff, and the force's budget. The multinational force comprises Greece, Italy, Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania and FYROM, with the US and Slovenia participating as observers.

Missing Australian tourist found dead

Police said Tuesday they had found the body of an Australian businessman reported missing on the island of Mykonos 10 days ago and it appeared he had died of natural causes. John Duras Anderson's body was found last night by a shepherd at Aghios Ioannis, Mykonos, some 200 metres from the road, but in a spot with limited visibility from the air. Police had been scouring the holiday island since last Sunday when Anderson, 51, failed to return to the yacht he had chartered with his wife after leaving for a routine evening jog and swim. Police said the body would be flown later today to Athens, where the post-mortem examination would be carried out, possibly tomorrow.

One dies in boating accident

One person was killed on Tuesday when a tourist boat Iason sank off the coast of the Ionian island of Zakynthos, the merchant marine ministry said. The ministry said the boat went down at around 2.30 p.m. off Agios Andreas, in northwest Zakynthos. It had a crew of two and was carrying 20 tourists, both Greek and foreign. The identity of the dead person, or the exact cause of their death, was not immediately clear. The ministry said it appeared the small tourist boat had struck a reef and began listing. The passengers dived into the water and began swimming, being picked up by coast guard patrol boats and local fishing boats that had rushed to the scene.

Parliament president meets Tunisian Defence Minister

Parliament President Apostolos Kaklamanis on Tuesday had talks with visiting Tunisian Defence Minister Habib Ben Yahia on the further development and strengthening of bilateral relations. Kaklamanis praised the ties of friendship between the two countries which had never in the past faced each other as enemies, but on the contrary had worked for peace. He also expressed satisfaction over new prospects for cooperation opening up in the defence, economic and cultural sectors. Ben Yahia had talks on Monday with his Greek counterpart, Akis Tsohatzopoulos, focusing on ways to promote peace in the broader region of the Mediterranean.

Government unaware of Milosevic travel plans

Greece on Tuesday said reports from Belgrade that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and his son had asked to visit Greece were groundless. "It's the first time I've heard about it," said government spokesman Dimitris Reppas when asked by reporters to comment on the reports. Asked if the Greek foreign ministry had rejected a request by Milosevic's son, Markos, to visit the country, Reppas replied that he knew nothing in this respect.

Parachutist plunges to his death

A Hellenic Air Force parachutist died today during an armed forces exercise in the northern prefecture of Thessaloniki, defence ministry sources said. They said the parachutist was taking part in the last stage of the "Sarissa '99" cooperation exercise jointly conducted by the army, navy and airforce since July 9 in the Askos region.

Two injured in bungled firebomb attack

Two Thessaloniki men were being treated for serious burns on Tuesday after they bungled an attempt to firebomb a petrol station in Halkidiki. Michalis Athanasiadis, 29, and Constantine Casnaktisis, 19, were injured in their attempt early on Tuesday to attack the petrol station, belonging to a man with whom they had had a heated argument two days earlier. They dropped one of the firebombs they intended to use, setting off a fire inside the car. The car was destroyed and the two seriously injured.

Two children arrested for assault on another

Police in Thessaloniki said on Tuesday they had detained two children after they doused and tried to set alight another child after robbing him. The children, one aged 10 and the other 12, were expected to be arraigned before a public prosecutor later in the day. Police said that the two boys had threatened another 12-year-old with a bottle of petrol and a cigarette lighter if the boy did not hand over 4,000 drachmas. After the boy gave them the money, the attackers doused the panic-stricken boy with the petrol, trying to set him alight, but he managed to get away.

Earthquake registered off Zakynthos

An earthquake measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale rocked the prefecture of Ilia early today, but no damage or injuries were reported. The Patras University's seismology laboratory said the quake was recorded at 1:25 a.m. with its epicentre at a depth of 15 kilometres in the sea between Zakynthos island and the Strofades island grouping.

WEATHER

Fair in Athens where temperatures will range between 23-36C.

Partly cloudy in Thessaloniki where temperatures will be from 22-34C.

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

Tuesday's rates (buying)
U.S. dollar          317.986
Pound sterling       494.056
Japanese yen (100)   260.152
French franc          49.127
German mark          164.764
Italian lira (100)    16.643
Irish Punt           409.174
Belgian franc          7.988
Finnish mark          54.199
Dutch guilder        146.232
Danish kr.            43.331
Austrian sch.         23.419
Spanish peseta         1.936
Swedish kr.           36.978
Norwegian kr.         39.749
Swiss franc          200.434
Port. Escudo           1.607
Can. dollar          215.859
Aus. dollar          210.939
Cyprus pound         558.992
Euro                 322.251

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