Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 99-02-08
NEWS IN ENGLISH
Athens, Greece, 08/02/1999 (ANA)
MAIN HEADLINES
- PM Simitis sends condolences on death of Hussein
- Athens talks to wind up S-300 missiles issue
- Government confident farmers will not protest
- Olympic Airways managing director resigns
- Greece, U.S. to sign sports cooperation protocol
- Slovenian deputy foreign minister to visit
- Greek army receives first dispatch of Leopard tanks
- U.S. official in Athens for high-level defence talks
- U.S. congressmen to visit Athens
- Weather
- Foreign Exchange
NEWS IN DETAIL
PM Simitis sends condolences on death of Hussein
Prime Minister Costas Simitis sent a message of condolences to his
Jordanian counterpart, Fayez al-Tarawnah, on the death of King Hussein of
Jordan on Sunday. "It is with great regret I was informed of the death of
King Hussein, an exceptional leader and a mainstay for peace and stability
in the Middle East. I extend to Your Excellency, on behalf of the Greek
government and myself, our sincerest condolences and deepest sympathies,"
the telegram read. President of the Republic Costis Stephanopoulos is in
Amman to represent Greece at the state funeral for the king.
Athens talks to wind up S-300 missiles issue
National Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos and his Cypriot counterpart
Yiannakis Chrysostomis are expected during talks in Athens on Monday to
sign a memorandum which will bring Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missiles one
step closer to deployment on Crete. Nicosia had ordered the missiles for
deploment on Cyprus but cancelled the procurement amidst fears that it
might jeopardise ongoing European Union accession negotiations. Today's
talks are focusing on the technical details of such a move and next Monday
a Cypriot government delegation and representative of the Greek
National Defence Ministry will travel to Moscow to sign an agreement with
the Russian side. Tsohatzopoulos said after a first round of talks with
Chrysostomis today that the Greek government's decision would be implemented
"immediately" but declined to specify any time framework for the deployment
of the missiles on Crete.
Government confident farmers will not protest
The government said on Monday that threatened farmers' protests and road
blocks this week appeared to have got off to a lukewarm start. "The
farmers' coordinating committee has not received the response it expected,"
government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said. "At this time, the number of
tractors (involved in protests) is smaller than the number this morning and
clearly smaller than in other years." Farmers demanding lower debt
repayment rates and satisfaction of other issues have warned of a repeat of
protest action in 1997, when the country's road and rail network was
paralysed by tractor blockades. They were due on Monday to rally outside
major towns and on national highways.
Olympic Airways managing director resigns
The managing director of national carrier Olympic Airways (OA), Theodoros
Tsakiridis, on Monday handed his resignation to Transport and Communications
Minister Tassos Mandelis and National Economy Minister Yiannos Papantoniou.
In his letter of resignation, Tsakiridis said he was vacating the post in
order to facilitate efforts by Mandelis to find a new manager for the
ailing airline. The national economy ministry on January 31 announced an
international tender for an airline operator to take over the management of
OA. Despite his resignation, Tsakiridis is expected to remain in his post
until Friday when the deadline ends for the expression of interest.
According to sources, British Airways, Lufthansa and a US operator have
already expressed interest in taking over management.
Greece, U.S. to sign sports cooperation protocol
Greece's Undersecretary for Sports Andreas Fouras and U.S. envoy to Greece
Nicholas Burns will sign a protocol on bilateral sports cooperation on
Tuesday. The protocol will be signed during a special ceremony to be held
at the Greek Olympic Games Committee building.
Slovenian deputy foreign minister to visit
Slovenia's deputy foreign minister, Franco Yuri, is expected to visit
Greece on February 16, following talks with his Greek counterpart Yiannis
Kranidiotis in Ljubljana last week. Yuri will reportedly pass on a message
from his prime minister to the leadership of the Greek foreign and national
defence ministries, relating to the NATO summit to be held in Washington in
April. Greece has fully supported Slovenia in its efforts to join both the
European Union and NATO, a position that was reiterated by Kranidiotis in
his talks last week.
Greek army receives first dispatch of Leopard tanks
The Greek armed forces on Monday officially took delivery of the first 25
of 170 second-hand Leopard 1A5 tanks from Germany within the framework of
the army's ongoing armaments programme. The delivery ceremony at the
Prokopidis army camp just outside Thessaloniki was attended by National
Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos and top military officials headed by
the Chief of the Army General Staff, Lieutenant-General Manoussos
Paragioudakis. Tsohatzopoulos said the Leopard tanks were among the most
modern in the Greek army, which first took delivery of 77 of this type in
1993 as offset benefits within the framework of a contract for the purchase
of four German-built frigates.
U.S. official in Athens for high-level defence talks
U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defence for International Security Affairs
Frank Kramer will visit Athens from February 10-11 for high-level
consultations with Greek officials, a U.S. Embassy press release said. The
talks will focus on defence issues of mutual interest.
U.S. congressmen to visit Athens
A 12-member delegation of U.S. Congressmen will visit Greece February 18 to
meet with Greek government officials on political and economic affairs and
defence and seucrity issues. The delegation, led by Nebraska Republican
Douglas Bereuter, is on a six-day tour of the region and, apart from Greece,
will also visit Belgium, France, Cyprus and Turkey. The Athens talks are
expected to focus on the security situation in the eastern Mediterranean,
relations between Greece and Turkey and prospects for a resolution of the
Cyprus issue.
WEATHER
Clouds and rain are forecast Monday for western Greece, turning to local
storms later in the day and gradually spreading throughout the rest of the
country, with snow in the central and northern mountainous regions. Athens
will be overcast, turning possibly to rain at night and temperatures
ranging from 4-15 C. The same for Thessaoniki, with possibility of rain in
the afternoon and temperatures from -1 to 10 C.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Monday's rates (buying) U.S. dollar 282.343
Pound sterling 463.581 Japanese yen (100) 250.202
French franc 48.712 German mark 163.374
Italian lira (100) 16.503 Irish Punt 405.723
Belgian franc 7.921 Finnish mark 53.742
Dutch guilder 144.998 Danish kr. 42.967
Austrian sch. 23.222 Spanish peseta 1.921
Swedish kr. 35.984 Norwegian kr. 36.704
Swiss franc 199.779 Port. Escudo 1.594
Aus. dollar 183.465 Can. dollar 189.968
Cyprus pound 550.560
(M.P.)
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