Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 99-02-17
NEWS IN ENGLISH
Athens, Greece, 17/02/1999 (ANA)
MAIN HEADLINES
- Greece to raise Ocalan issue at EU
- Full government support for FM
- Opposition calls for urgent debate
- Four Kurds still in Nairobi embassy
- Bomb hoax in Thessaloniki
- President denies handover reports
- 24 injured in bus collision
- Albanian drug smugglers use women, children
- Weather
- Foreign Exchange
NEWS IN DETAIL
Greece to raise Ocalan issue at EU
Greece will raise the issue of the capture in Kenya of Kurdish rebel leader
Abdullah Ocalan at Monday's meeting of the European Union General Affairs
Council, government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said on Wednesday. The
government will be represented at the meeting by Alternate Foreign Minister
George Papandreou, who will also raise the issue of the conditions under
which Ocalan is being held in Turkey and his forthcoming trial. In the
meantime, Reppas said, Prime Minister Costas Simitis, who is still in bed
with flu, will tomorrow chair a joint meeting of the inner cabinet and the
ruling PASOK party's political secretariat.
Full government support for FM
Reppas gave full support to Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos regarding
his handling of the situation. Eight PASOK deputies have called for
Pangalos' resignation following Ocalan's capture and subsequent transfer to
Turkey early Monday morning. "Mr. Pangalos performed his duties in a
responsible and effective manner. He followed the government's policy and
safeguarded the country's interests in the best possible way," Reppas said.
The spokesman said there was no question of Pangalos resigning.
Opposition calls for urgent debate
Main opposition New Democracy (ND) party leader Costas Karamanlis on
Wednesday called for an off-the-agenda parliamentary debate on the capture
of rebel Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan in Kenya and his subsequent
transfer to Turkey. The call was contained in a letter submitted to
Parliament President Apostolos Kaklamanis which charged that the government
was following "a dangerous and failed foreign policy". The letter further
maintained that the handling of the Ocalan affair by Prime Minister Costas
Simitis and Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos had brought shame on the
country, created grave dangers "and made enemies even out of the enemies of
our enemies". situations and follows tactics which jeopardise the
country's interests," Karamanlis said in the letter.
Four Kurds still in Nairobi embassy
Information that the Kenyan authorities were preparing to arrest four Kurds
in the Greek embassy in Nairobi and turn them over to the Turkish
authorities forced Parliament's external affairs committee to hastily cut
short a discussion of developments regarding Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah
Ocalan's arrest in Kenya and handover to Turkey. Honorary president of main
opposition New Democracy (ND) Constantine Mitsotakis told the committee of
the "information", prompting a discussion on whether Foreign Minister
Theodoros Pangalos should go to the ministry to deal with the matter. The
committee agreed to discontinue its session for Pangalos to return the
foreign ministry to handle the situation.
Bomb hoax in Thessaloniki
An anonymous caller claiming to represent a Kurdish group phoned a
Thessaloniki newspaper and news agency on Wednesday to warn of a bomb set
to go off at midday the city's main courthouse. Police evacuated the
building but failed to find any trace of a bomb, officials said. The
telephone call, to newspaper 'Macedonia' and the Macedonian Press Agency at
about 11.30 a.m., was from a man speaking broken Greek and claiming to
represent a Kurdish national liberation movement.
President denies handover reports
President of the Republic Costis Stephanopoulos on Wednesday categorically
denied allegations that Greece "handed over" rebel Kurdish leader Abdullah
Ocalan to Turkey, but conceded that there could have been mistakes in
Athens' handling of the issue. Speaking to reporters accompanying him on
the return of a three-day official visit to Austria he cut short after
Ocalan's arrest in Kenya after spending 12 days at the Greek ambassador's
home in Nairobi, Stephanopoulos said he was saddened when he heard
television stations blaming Greece over the developments in the Ocalan
affair. The Greek head of state said there needed to be a convincing
response to the allegations, adding that mistaken handling was possible in
a difficult situation.
24 injured in bus collision
Twenty-four persons were injured when two buses carrying elderly excursionists
collided Wednesday on a main thoroughfare in Hasia, northwestern Athens.
The accident occurred when the second of two tourist coaches carrying 80
members of a senior citizens' recreation centre (KAPI) from Galatsi suburb
were returning from a pilgrimage to Aghios Kyprianos monastery in Hasia
suffered brake failure and rammed into the first coach. The impact caused
the front coach to skid off the road and fall into a ravine, while the
second coach swerved into the opposite lane and crashed into the hillside.
Albanian drug smugglers use women, children
Five Albanian narcotics smugglers who used forty women and children as
cover were arrested in possession of 150 kilos of hashish outside the
village of Leptokarya, Florina on Wednesday. According to the police, the
five had admitted to using their compatriots as cover so that they would
have time to escape if the group was spotted by one of the joint army and
police patrols in the region. The five were identified as Vasil Kalemi, 33,
Sokol Kuazimi, 24, M.K., 15, Halit Tzieta, 39 and Petrit Mema, 30 who were
due to be officially charged by a public prosecutor later today. The group
of women and children split up just before the police moved in on the
smugglers and are believed to have made their way back over the border into
Albania. Police said it was not the first time Albanian drug smugglers
had used women and children in this way.
WEATHER
Overcast weather and sporadic showers will prevail in most parts of Greece
today and mainly in the northern and eastern regions today. Winds variable,
light to moderate. Overcast with intermittent rain in Athens with
temperatures will ranging between 7-13C. Overcast in Thessaloniki with
temperatures from 0-10C.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Wednesday's rates (buying) U.S. dollar 285.855
Pound sterling 467.411 Japanese yen (100) 243.109
French franc 48.775 German mark 163.583
Italian lira (100) 16.524 Irish Punt 406.240
Belgian franc 7.931 Luxembourg franc 7.931
Finnish mark 53.810 Dutch guilder 145.182
Danish kr. 43.035 Austrian sch. 23.250
Spanish peseta 1.922 Swedish kr. 36.079
Norwegian kr. 37.061 Swiss franc 200.067
Port. Escudo 1.596 Aus. dollar 183.351
Can. dollar 189.532 Cyprus pound 550.560
euro 319.940
(M.P.)
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