Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 99-12-14

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

NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 14/12/1999 (ANA)

MAIN HEADLINES

• Former PM Mitsotakis backs govt on Helsinki
• Greece, FYROM agree defence cooperation
• Customs seize truck with 700 kilos hash
• Greek banks ready for year 2000
• Singer calls in police over bootleg CDs
• Affair between mother of five and pupil shocks Drama
• Monk wounded in fracas on Athos
• Weather
• Foreign Exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

Conservative former prime minister Costas Mitsotakis on Tuesday diverged from the official New Democracy party line and backed the Greek socialist government's endorsement of Turkey's European Union candidacy at the recent EU summit in Helsinki. Mitsotakis, ND honorary leader, said premier Costas Simitis' PASOK government had followed the policy implemented by his own ND government in the period 1990-1993 that it was necessary for Turkey to acquire a European orientation. "The fact that the government followed our policy should not be unpleasant to us in New Democracy," he said.

Greece, FYROM agree defence cooperation

Greece and FYROM on Tuesday signed a defence cooperation agreement in Skopje, an ANA dispatch from the FYROM capital said. The accord, signed by visiting Greek defence minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos and his FYROM counterpart Nikola Kljusev, encompasses bilateral meetings of experts, training of FYROM defence ministry officials in Athens, and cooperation in the sector of defence technology. Tsohatzopoulos later visited the Skopje military camp to attend a delivery ceremony of 10 Greek-designed "Leonidas" armoured personnel vehicles and 30 military jeeps. FYROM has defence cooperation accords also with Bulgaria, Albania, Romania and Turkey.

Customs seize truck with 700 kilos hash

Customs authorities on the Greek-Albanian border seized a truck loaded with nearly 700 kilos of hashish and arrested the Albanian driver, police said Tuesday. They said the 39-year-old driver Jemal Kouka was arrested at the Krystallopighi border post Monday night when customs authorities found 674 kilos of hashish packed in 380 packages concealed in a hidden compartment of his refrigerator truck.

Greek banks ready for year 2000

The Association of Greek Banks said on Tuesday that all its members were Year 2000 compliant and ready to deal with the changeover in dates to the new millennium. A statement said that the public could rest easy that the money it has deposited with Greek banks was "completely safe". "Clients' accounts will suffer no effects; transactions will proceed normally," the statement said.

Singer calls in police over bootleg CDs

Local singer Despina Vandis called in the police to arrest street merchants selling bootleg copies of her recent CD but they managed to disappear before being arrested, Thessaloniki police said. Vandis, a former Aristotelian University student, clashed verbally with the stallholders during a visit to her former alma mater but was unable to convince them that they were cheating her of her royalties. University authorities have in the past wrestled with the issue of street merchants using the university's premises as an open-air market for the sale of bootleg CDs and cassettes.

Affair between mother of five and pupil shocks Drama

The husband of a 33-year-old mother of five pleaded on Tuesday that his wife return to the family, after she ran off with a 16-year-old technical school student. The news of the affair has caused a minor sensation in the small northern Greek border town of Drama. Alexandros Savvidou said he would forgive his wife if she would just come home. His wife Vassiliki, and her young lover, Costas D., left town on Friday. Police say they suspect the couple has fled to Halkida, where the woman has relatives. After initially filing a missing persons' report, Costas D.'s parents have now filed charges against Savvidou for kidnapping.

Monk wounded in fracas on Athos

A workman shot and injured a monk on the autonomous monastic community of Mount Athos, police reported on Tuesday. The 38-year-old man, who has been convicted of a series of thefts in the past, was under the influence of alcohol during the altercation, police said. The injured monk, Nikolaos Dourdoubas, 30, received wounds to the feet.

WEATHER

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

Tuesday's rates (buying)
U.S. dollar          322.648
Pound sterling       523.280
Japanese yen (100)   314.801
French franc          49.842
German mark          167.164
Italian lira (100)    16.885
Irish Punt           415.132
Belgian franc          8.105
Finnish mark          54.988
Dutch guilder        148.361
Danish kr.            43.958
Austrian sch.         23.760
Spanish peseta         1.965
Swedish kr.           38.140
Norwegian kr.         40.404
Swiss franc          204.208
Port. Escudo           1.631
Can. dollar          218.200
Aus. dollar          205.319
Cyprus pound         565.817
Euro                 326.943

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