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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 15-05-30
CONTENTS
[01] Meeting of government's negotiating group underway, chaired by PM
[02] Voutsis: 'We must have a solution and agreement within the week'
[03] Dead suspect linked to sensational Paleokostas prison break,
police say
[04] Russian tourist struck by lightning 'stable but critical,'
doctors say
[01] Meeting of government's negotiating group underway, chaired by PM
ANA-MPA -- A meeting of the government's Political Negotiation Group,
chaired by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, was underway at the Maximos
Mansion on Saturday, starting from noon.
[02] Voutsis: 'We must have a solution and agreement within the week'
ANA-MPA -- Greece must arrive at a solution and an agreement with its
creditors within the week, Interior and Administrative Reconstruction
Minister Nikos Voutsis told the private broadcaster 'Skai' on Saturday,
while he did not rule out the prospect of elections.
He predicted that the agreement reached would be "honest, clean,
transparent but also quite painful," and warned that the government would
not hesitate to call a snap election if its majority in Parliament was
lost when the deal with the creditors was put to a vote. "We will do
what the Constitution calls for, in other words hold elections. We cannot
tell the people we will press ahead with additional crutches," he said.
On the issue of party discipline, Voutsis noted that the Left "knows how
to discipline itself when it is faced with the entire picture. Everyone
will make their decisions having before them the people that voted for
us. If something tastes sour, it tastes sour for all of us," he added.
The minister also ruled out any suspension or "time out" from the
negotiations for one or two months until an agreement was reached,
attributing paternity of this idea to German Finance Minister Wolfgang
Schaeuble.
[03] Dead suspect linked to sensational Paleokostas prison break,
police say
ANA-MPA -- In a sensational new turn in the case, police on Saturday
reported that the suspect killed during a counter-terrorism operation at
Nea Aghialos in Volos was none other than the pilot of the helicopter
in which notorious criminal Vassilis Paleokostas had in 2006 escaped
from Korydallos Prison in Athens.
During the preliminary inquiry conducted by the counter-terrorism squad,
the dead man was positively identified as 34-year-old Spiros Dravilas,
also known by the nickname 'Karfakias', who was also implicated in an
armed robbery carried out in Distomo last August. Police arrested two
individuals during Friday's operation, 44-year-old Spiros Christodoulou
and 37-year-old Grigoris Tsironis. The latter arrest was considered
especially fortunate, since Tsironis has been wanted for years as one of
the 'robbers in black' that worked with the brothers Marios and Simos
Seisidis. Along with the brothers, police had offered a 600,000-euro
reward for Tsironis after an attack on the Agia Paraskevi police station
using Kalashnikov rifles. According to information given by authorities,
four shots were heard from within the house during the police operation
at Aghialos, before police had entered. The two suspects in custody
then surrendered, claiming that the third suspect shot himself to avoid
arrest. Tsironis initially identified himself as Spiros Dravilas,
causing confusion concerning the identity of the dead man. This was
later definitively settled when the dead man's finger prints revealed
his true identity. The two men under arrest are to be led before a
public prosecutor on Saturday afternoon. In a press conference, Chief
of Police Dimitris Tsaknakis confirmed that Dravilas committed suicide,
shooting himself in the head after he realised the police had surrounded
the house in Nea Aghialos. The police operation was mounted after the
counter-terrorism squad uncovered information indicating that Vassilis
Paleokostas may be involved in two serious armed robberies recently
carried out in Thessaly. Police said that the dead man, Dravilas,
and 45-year-old Spiros Christodoulou were both at the Distomo robbery
in August with Giorgos Petrakakos, who is wanted and still at large.
The three were uncovered after authorities spotted Dravilas driving a
Nissan truck that had earlier been used in an armed robbery in Ambelonas,
Larissa outside a supermarket in Volos. Police set up a surveillance
operation, followed the truck back to the house in Nea Aghialos and soon
after decided to move in. A search of the house has revealed additional
evidence, such as fire arms, ammunition and three stolen cars. All
three men are believed to have participated in a robbery at Farkadona,
Trikala on April 2 and the robbery in Ambelonas, Larissa on April 30.
Asked whether any of the three are linked to terrorism in any way,
Tsaknakis said there was no evidence to confirm this, apart from the
fact that convicted terrorist Nikos Maziotis had taken part in robberies
committed by the gang in the past.
[04] Russian tourist struck by lightning 'stable but critical,'
doctors say
ANA-MPA -- A Russian tourist who had to be resuscitated after she
was struck by lightning is in a stable but critical condition, doctors
reported on Saturday. The woman was part of a group of tourists who were
caught in a brief rainstorm while visiting the Knossos archaeological
site on Crete on Friday morning and were injured in a lightning strike.
The injured tourist, who suffered a heart attack, was rushed to the
nearby Venizelio Hospital, which opened its emergency room specifically
to receive her due to the seriousness of her condition. She underwent
abdominal surgery and was then transferred to the hospital's intensive
care ward, where doctors say the next 48 hours will be crucial.
The other tourists injured in the incident were taken to Iraklio
University Hospital, while their health is not considered to be in
danger. Seven people were admitted to the hospital as a precaution and
are expected to discharged soon.
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