From: tzarros@ccs.carleton.ca (Theodore Zarros) Subject: News (in ENGLISH)- Tue, 9 Aug 1994 (Greek Press Office BBS, Ottawa). Athens News Agency Bulletin, August 9, 1994 ------------------------------------------- * Papoulias: Tirana trial of ethnic Greeks a farce * Niles: US willing to mediate * Venizelos * Greek legation in Palestine * Air Force jet crashes, crew safe * Pangalos adamant on air controllers demand: no raise * Olympic Airways bill ready end August * PASOK selects Thessaloniki mayorship candidate * Terrorist asks Supreme Court overrule conviction Papoulias: Tirana trial of ethnic Greeks a farce -------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 09/08/94 (ANA): Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias yesterday expressed deep concern at Tirana's decision to try six leading members of the ethnic Greek political party "Omonia", describing the charges as "unfounded and groundless," after meeting a party delegation in Athens. In a related development, US envoy to Athens Thomas Niles acknowledged there were problems relating to the state of the human rights of the Greek ethnic minority in Albania. He was speaking to the press after an unscheduled meeting with Mr. Papoulias yesterday. Speaking to reporters after talks with the President and General Secretary of "Omonia", Sotiris Kyriazatis and Demetris Tsachas, Mr. Papoulias said: "The trial which is being rigged is a farce. It is based on the provisions of a penal code used by Albania's Stalinist regime. The same law was used to try the current president of Omonia" under the previous communist regime, he said. The government, Mr. Papoulias said, is calmly dealing with the situation "which creates a different climate". "The Greek government has both the political will and the capability to deal with any situation which has negative repercussions and restricts the human rights of the Greek ethnic minority in Albania," he added. Reiterating a 1981 statement by Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou, Mr. Papoulias said that Greece was "attached to the Greek minority in Albania with an umbilical cord". Expressing concern over the situation in Albania, Mr. Kyriazatis said that he had had an exchange of views with Mr. Papoulias on all the problems facing the Greek minority in the neighbouring country. "We all want peaceful co-existence and to solve all problems in a peaceful and democratic way with dialogue," Mr. Kyriazatis said, adding that he did not believe there were any substantial differences which could not be resolved. Mr. Kyriazatis said that Omonia had sent protests to all mass media in Albania, as well as in other countries and to international organisations, condemning the charges brought against five of the six members as a violation of the most fundamental human rights and legal proceedings by the Albanian authorities. "On the night of April 18, 1994," Mr. Kyriazatis said, "mass arrests were carried out in nine towns of Albania. House searches were conducted and objects and documents confiscated. On that night, the privacy of over 50 Greek and Albanian homes was violated and more than 70 Greeks and Albanians were arrested. "The five detainees who were arrested on the same night are being kept in complete isolation, without lawyers, facing charges full of generalisations and inaccuracies." The five have been charged with treason, while a sixth member of Omonia has been charged with illegal carrying of arms. The trial has been set for August 15. Niles: US willing to mediate ------------------------------------ Athens, 09/08/94 (ANA): US envoy to Athens Thomas Niles said in Athens yesterday there were problems relating to the state of the human rights of the Greek Ethnic Minority in Albania. "I believe there are problems in relation to the (state of the) human rights of the Greek population in southern Albania," Mr. Niles said after an unscheduled meeting with Greek Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias earlier in the day. "All CSCE (Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe) signatory governments should fully implement the terms of this treaty, particularly those relating to human rights," he added. "It is obvious that there are problems" in Greek-Albanian relations, Mr. Niles said declining to reveal proposals the United States intended to submit to the two neighbouring countries in a bid to resolve their differences. "We would like to help overcome misunderstandings and ease tensions (between the two countries)," he said. Venizelos ------------- Athens, 09/08/94 (ANA): Government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos later urged the opposition parties, New Democracy and Political Spring, not to use Greece's national issues for petty party gains. "National issues such as the safeguard of the rights of ethnic Greeks in Albania do not lend themselves to petty party gains," Mr. Venizelos said. "This is no time to evaluate the handling (of these issues) over the period 1989-1993, during which the new political order in Albania was formed. "Now is the time to adopt a clear and unified national stance with which all opposition parties should harmonise their positions, instead of attacking the government," he concluded. Political Spring Party (Pol.An) spokesman, Akis Gerontopoulos, yesterday called on the government to "make clear to Albania that it is not willing to tolerate the parody of a trial it is trying to set up." Greek legation in Palestine ------------------------------------ Athens, 09/08/94 (ANA): Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias yesterday announced a government decision to establish a legation in Palestine. He did not clarify when the legation would begin operating, or the name of the diplomat who will be in charge. Air Force jet crashes, crew safe ------------------------------------------ Athens, 09/08/94 (ANA): A Greek Air Force jet crashed yesterday, but its pilot and co-pilot succeeded in bailing out shortly after takeoff over Andravida airport, Eleia, Western Peloponnese, a police spokesman said. The two men, Wing-Commander Elias Skaikas and Lieutenant Wing Commander Efthymios Simidzis were rushed to a local hospital and treated for minor injuries. An inquiry has been ordered into the cause of the accident, a National Defence Staff spokesman said. Pangalos adamant on air controllers demand: no raise ----------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 09/08/94 (ANA): Transport Minister Theodoros Pangalos yesterday warned work-to-rule air traffic controllers he was considering placing them under Defence Ministry jurisdiction, if they pressed on with a demand for a pay rise exceeding the ceiling set by the government. "I will not grant one drachma beyond inflation indexation, and nothing will make me change my stand. The claim would raise monthly pay from 600,000 to one million drachmas", he told a press conference. Mr. Pangalos added he had given favourable consideration to pensions and grading. Placing the department under Defence Ministry jurisdiction would make working conditions much stricter owing to security considerations. Mr Pangalos said the new modern radar system for air traffic control would become operational next year. A special committee was currently in France discussing technical details, he noted. The main opposition New Democracy party yesterday called on Mr Pangalos to seek a settlement with the air traffic controllers "so as to put an end at last to the inconvenience of passengers". President of the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE) Christos Protopappas called on air traffic controllers to commence talks on finding a solution to pending problems, saying that the minister's latest statement offered a possibility of finding a commonly acceptable settlement and putting an end to an unacceptable situation which damaged Greece's national air carrier and Greek tourism. Olympic Airways bill ready end August ------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 09/08/94 (ANA): Minister of Transport and Communications Theodore Pangalos said yesterday a bill for rehabilitating Olympic Airways would be ready by the end of the month. The plan, to be approved by Parliament, is based on a decision of the competent committee of the European Union. PASOK selects Thessaloniki mayorship candidate ----------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 09/08/94 (ANA): The President and the Executive Bureau of the ruling Panhellenic Socialist Movement PASOK yesterday announced the nomination of former Trade Minister Nikos Akritides for the Thessaloniki Municipality in the upcoming October elections. "He (Mr. Akritides) is able to serve with success the great ambitions and prospects of the city and the citizens of Thessaloniki, and the greater region of Macedonia, so with the special role it possesses, to become a bridge of friendship, peace, civilisation and co-operation between Europe and the Balkans," the announcement said. Terrorist asks Supreme Court overrule conviction ----------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 09/08/94 (ANA): Palestinian terrorist Mohammed Rashid called on the Greek supreme court yesterday to overrule a lower court 15-year conviction in connection with the mid-air bombing of an American airliner in 1982. Rashid filed a petition over a year ago, after an Athens appeals court agreed to commute by three years an 18-year sentence for premeditated homicide and planting a bomb in a Hawaii-bound Pan American airliner in 1982. A Japanese teenager was killed and 15 other passengers injured as a result of the explosion. The 44-year-old self proclaimed officer of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) was arrested at Athens airport in 1988 following an advice from US authorities. He was tried in Greece after Athens denied a US extradition request in 1990.