Athens News Agency: News in English, 03-02-16

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

CONTENTS

[01] Prime minister sends congratulations to new Cypriot president

[02] Weather Forecast: Rain on Monday

[03] Former king ends 24-hour visit to Greece to perform religious rite

[04] Greece seeks Arab, EU link to press Iraq into disarming

[01] Prime minister sends congratulations to new Cypriot president

BRUSSELS (ANA/Y.Zitouniati) - Prime Minister Costas Simitis on Sunday congratulated Tassos Papadopoulos, winner of Cyprus' presidential election, on his victory.

Papadopoulos, head of the Democratic Party, stood in the election as candidate for a group of opposition parties spanning the political left and right. He gained 51.51 percent of the vote.

''Mr Papadopoulos has the experience and the knowledge of the situation that will enable him to handle the Cyprus issue,'' Simitis told reporters.

''I believe that he will confront the situation realistically, and I do not think there will be a different line from that pursued so far, as far as essentials are concerned,'' the prime minister said in reply to a reporter's question.

He added that Papadopoulos' predecessor, Glafkos Clerides, had forged a path for the new leadership to follow.

[02] Weather Forecast: Rain on Monday

Cloud and rain are forecast in all parts of the country, with storms at sea in the south, and snow in the centre and north. Winds variable, strong to gale force. In the north, temperatures will range from -4 to 4C; on the rest of the mainland from -2C to 9C; and in the islands from 3C to 11C. Temperatures in Athens between 3C and 9C; and in Thessaloniki from 0C to 4C.

[03] Former king ends 24-hour visit to Greece to perform religious rite

Former king Constantine ended a 24-hour visit to Greece on Sunday to perform a religious custom with family members at an ancestral burial ground, which is situated on land that once belonged to the deposed royal clan.

The ex-monarch left Athens airport by private jet to Spain where his daughter resides after sightseeing in Athens and meeting acquaintances.

On arrival on Saturday, Constantine went to the Tatoi estate near Athens, reportedly for the first time since 1993, after arriving on a scheduled flight from Italy. He declined to make statements to the media.

Asked to comment on the visit, government spokesman Christos Protopappas told reporters that that Constantine had informed the Greek embassy that he would stay for about 24 hours in order to perform the memorial ritual.

The ex-king entered the country under the terms of the Schengen travel agreement on a passport issued by a European country. He was identified on the document by the surname of ''de Grecia'', the spokesman said.

''The former king is one of millions of European visitors to come to Greece in 2003. No more, no less,'' he added.

Also asked for comment by the media was Deputy Foreign Minister Yiannis Magriotis, who said that the country was in no jeopardy from the former monarch following a parting of the ways between state and monarchy.

Constantine cannot enter the country using a Greek passport unless he drops his former title of monarch and employs a surname.

In January, the head of the International Olympic Committee said that the ex-king, a member of the IOC, had the right to return to Greece for the Athens 2004 Olympics under the terms of an agreement signed by the IOC and the government.

''The Greek government has signed a contract with the IOC under which members of the IOC will be in Athens in August 2004, and this contract must be adhered to,'' IOC head Jacques Rogge had told the Sunday Eleftherotypia newspaper.

[04] Greece seeks Arab, EU link to press Iraq into disarming

CAIRO (ANA/Fay Karaviti) - Greece on Sunday urged Arab states to work with the European Union as a lever to persuade Iraq into complying with UN resolutions on disarmament, and help to avert war.

Representing the EU at a meeting of the 22-member Arab League, Foreign Minister George Papandreou said the 15-nation bloc and the Arab world should create links to help defuse the crisis with Iraq, avoiding a clash of cultures and religions.

''Not only would the Arab countries be legitimised in terms of the consequences they would suffer from any war, but they would also have the chance to intervene to help make Iraq comply with UN resolutions,'' Papandreou said.

Greece, the EU's six-month rotating president, has sought to avert a US-led war on Iraq that has not been sanctioned by the United Nations.

''We will stand by the Arab countries in any initiative that is taken in this direction, and we will continue to view the UN and the security council as the only competent authority to handle the crisis,'' Papandreou told the emergency ministers' talks to prepare for an Arab League summit expected later this month.

He also said that the peace process in the Middle East should be reactivated in order to create a ''road map'' for the region.

''For us, this is a basic priority, as the Iraq crisis cannot overshadow the Middle Eastern problem. If we seek to have UN resolutions implemented, then this must apply to all, including the Israelis,'' the minister added.

Also addressing the meeting for the EU, its foreign affairs commissioner, Chris Patten, underlined the need for the ''road map'' peace process, and welcomed Palestinian moves towards reform.

Concerning a possible military strike against Iraq, Patten said the EU remained in support of an international framework deriving from the UN.

On Saturday, Papandreou informed Prime Minister Costas Simitis of talks he held in New York last week on trying to defuse the Iraq crisis.

The two officials also prepared for an informal EU summit to be held in Brussels on Monday when Greece will strive to secure unity within the bloc on Iraq, the foreign minister told reporters.

''Efforts towards disarmament must continue...The UN is the competent body to take decisions. Europe must emerge from the summit with one voice, that of implementation of UN resolution 1441 and of international legitimacy,'' he said.

Asked if the meeting would produce a resolution, Papandreou noted that the usual outcome of informal summits was the release of a statement by the EU presidency, rather than a resolution.

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