Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 99-10-11

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

NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 11/10/1999 (ANA)

MAIN HEADLINES

• Historic icon to make rare trip to Athens
• Cypriot foreign minister due in Greece
• Minister to attend Turkish quake fund-raiser
• Turkish entrepreneurs due in Athens
• War bad for Greek, Turkish economies - Turkish general
• Athens comments on terrorist DNA reports
• Japanese, Greek House Speakers meet
• Intracom clinches 100 bln dr contract
• Greek equities begin week moderately higher
• Weather
• Foreign Exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

The holiest icon on the autonomous monastic community of Mount Athos will make a rare trip out of the confines of the peninsula later this week, to Athens to bring "spiritual and material aid" to the quake-stricken. The Axion Esti (Worthy It Is) icon is expected to leave Karyes on the Mount on Thursday following a decision from Athos monks. It is hoped that the presence of the icon, and the donations left by the faithful who worship before it, will significantly help those left homeless and otherwise traumatised by the September 7 earthquake, which left more than 140 dead. The icon has left the hallowed ground of the Mount only four times in its more than thousand year history - twice to be worshipped in Athens, once in Thessaloniki and once in Cyprus.

Cypriot foreign minister due in Greece

Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides is expected in Athens on Wednesday for talks with Greek government officials, an ANA dispatch from Nicosia reported. The focus of talks between Kasoulides and the officials is expected to be a projected Turkish candidacy for EU membership at the EU Helsinki summit in December.

Minister to attend Turkish quake fund-raiser

Transport and Communications Minister Tassos Mandelis will meet with his Turkish counterpart Ennis Oksuz in Istanbul on Tuesday, an ANA dispatch from Ankara reported. Mandelis, who is in the Turkish city to attend a joint Greek-Turkish fund-raiser for quake relief, will arrive in Istanbul on Monday evening and meet Oksuz at midday on Tuesday. Also in Istanbul are MPs Rovertos Spyropoulos, from PASOK, Theofanis Didimoshakis, from New Democracy, Stavros Skopelitis, from Communist Party, and Mustafa Mustafa, from Left Coalition. All will be attending the concert to be given by composer Mikis Theodorakis, Turkish composer Zhulfi Livanelli and singer Maria Farantouri. The concert will be repeated in Athens on Wednesday night.

Turkish entrepreneurs due in Athens

Members of the executive of the Turkish-Greek Business Council will be in Athens on Tuesday to discuss a date and agenda for the first meeting of the council since relations were abruptly suspended in the wake of the Ocalan affair earlier this year. The Turkish committee will be led by businessman Sarik Tara.

War bad for Greek, Turkish economies - Turkish general

The economies of Greece and Turkey would regress by at least 50 years in the event of a war between the two neigbouring NATO countries, a former chief of the Turkish navy staff said today. According to an ANA dispatch from Ankara, Admiral (ret) Salim Dervisoglu, in an interview in the Turkish daily Sabah appearing today, criticised the proponents of war as a means of settling Greek-Turkish differences and said "no one emerges from a war without losses."

Athens comments on terrorist DNA reports

The government denied on Monday that the United States had requested DNA testing results on traces of blood found at the scene of a November 17 urban guerrilla group attack earlier this year. "The U.S. government has not requested the DNA of the terrorists found after the November 17 attack on the residence of the German ambassador in Athens," government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said. He was responding to questions from reporters in relation to the results of the Public Order Minister Michalis Chrysohoides's visit last week to Washington.

Japanese, Greek House Speakers meet

Parliament President Apostolos Kaklamanis and the speaker of Japan's Upper House, Juro Saito, on Monday agreed on the need to further strengthen cooperation between the two countries which this year celebrated the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties. Saito visited Kaklamanis today at the head of a Japanese parliamentary delegation. Saito handed Kaklamanis a cheque for 500,000 yen for the relief of the quake victims. Thanking him, Kaklamanis also expressed gratitude for the immediate despatch of Japanese rescue teams in Athens and material aid worth 42 million drachmas.

Intracom clinches 100 bln dr contract

Intracom signed a five-year procurement contract with Romanian telecommunications organisation Romtelecom, worth 100 billion drachmas. The deal was signed on Friday and covers the supply of digital lines, transmission systems, digital access services and national network management systems. The deal envisages the installation of 320,000 digital lines, transmission systems and digital access systems for subscribers by the end of 2000, worth 26 billion drachmas.

Greek equities begin week moderately higher

Equity prices ended the first trading session of the week moderately higher helped by renewed buying interest in industrial and smaller capitalisation stocks. The general index ended 0.79 percent higher at 5,972.75 points, up from 5,926.08 Friday's close. The index was down 1.60 percent early in the session hit by the market's negative reaction to news of AGET-Heracles Cement's takeover by UK's Blue Circle. The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended 3.01 percent higher while the FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks fell 0.32 percent to 2, 984.55 points.

WEATHER

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

Monday's rates (buying)
U.S. dollar          305.328
Pound sterling       503.976
Japanese yen (100)   284.228
French franc          49.663
German mark          166.565
Italian lira (100)    16.824
Irish Punt           413.646
Belgian franc          8.076
Finnish mark          54.791
Dutch guilder        147.829
Danish kr.            43.829
Austrian sch.         23.675
Spanish peseta         1.958
Swedish kr.           37.426
Norwegian kr.         39.188
Swiss franc          204.357
Port. Escudo           1.625
Can. dollar          207.288
Aus. dollar          200.667
Cyprus pound         563.952
Euro                 325.773

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