Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 99-03-10

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

NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 10/03/1999 (ANA)

MAIN HEADLINES

• FM begins Balkans tour, visits Skopje
• Athens denies U.S. pressure
• U.S. Cyprus official in Athens
• Greece, Armenia discuss relations
• Budget inflows overshoot targets
• Onassis Foundation to appeal Swiss decision
• Japan's Prince Hitachi in Greece
• Head of Cyprus EU talks in Athens
• Greek MP reports on Turkish mood
• Robber found hiding in car boot
• Justice Minister admitted to hospital
• Liani-Papandreou slapper gets 7 months
• Greek mountaineers head for Kilimanjaro
• Weather
• Foreign Exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

Foreign Minister George Papandreou said on Wednesday that Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) shared identical positions on the solution to the crisis in the strife-torn Yugoslav province of Kosovo, according to an ANA despatch from Skopje. He was speaking to reporters shortly before departing Skopje for Tirana, the next stop in a tour of Balkan capitals that will continue tomorrow with Bucharest, Sofia and Belgrade.

Athens denies U.S. pressure

Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said on Wednesday he was unaware of any pressure from the U.S. government on Greece. "We have not been subject to any pressure," Reppas said in response to press questions that Washington was exerting pressure on Greece. Reppas also denied other reports that the U.S. had slapped a freeze on arms sales to Greece. "There is no such issue," he said.

U.S. Cyprus official in Athens

U.S. Special Coordinator on the Cyprus issue Thomas Miller will be meeting with Alternate Foreign Minister Yiannos Kranidiotis in Athens on Thursday. Miller will meet with Foreign Minister George Papandreou - who today begins a two-day tour of Balkan capitals - in Athens on Friday.

Greece, Armenia discuss relations

Alternate Foreign Minister Yiannos Kranidiotis on Wednesday described as "excellent" relations between Athens and Yerevan after talks here with Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian. "Cooperation between Greece and Armenia extends to other fora within the framework of cooperation among the countries of the Black Sea region...," Kranidiotis said. Oskanian said relations between the two countries were "very good", adding that the participation of private Greek companies in Armenia's economic development was "notable". He said that talks with the Greek side would extend to the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, the ethnic Armenian-dominated enclave which seeks independence from surrounding Azerbaijan.

Budget inflows overshoot targets

Budget revenues rose by 5.26 percent in February, overshooting the 4.7 percent target, deputy finance secretary George Drys said today, adding that budget revenues in the two-month period January-February rose 10.04 percent against a 5.83 percent target for the entire year. This translated into a 31.5 billion dr. rise over the targeted revenue figure for the period in question, Drys said. Finance ministry analytical figures showed that tax bureau collections rose 5.37 percent in February and 11.87 percent in the two-month period January-February, while VAT revenues rose 8.5 percent in February and 3.35 percent in the two-month period.

Onassis Foundation to appeal Swiss decision

The Greek administrators of the Onassis fortune's teenage heiress said today they would file an appeal on a Swiss Guardianship Authority's decision to designate a Lucerne-based auditing firm to manage the inheritence. The last surviving heir of the vast Onassis shipping fortune, 14-year-old Athina Roussel, will inherit an estimated 600 million dollars on her 18th birthday. The teenager -- daughter of Onassis' late daughter Christina and her ex-husband, French businessman Thierry Roussel -- lives in Switzerland with her father, his Swedish wife and the couple's three children. The four Greek administrators and Roussel, who comprise the five- member Board of directors of the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, have long been at odds over the management of the assets.

Japan's Prince Hitachi in Greece

Japan's Prince and Princess Hitachi arrive in Athens March 18 for a four- day state visit to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the signing of a Greek-Japanese friendship, trade and navigation pact in 1989. It will be the first official visit by members of the Japanese imperial family to Greece. Japanese ambassador in Athens Kazuo Matsumoto told a press conference that Prince Masahito and princess Hanako will attend several cultural events marking the centenary of Greek-Japanese relations. They will call on prime minister Costas Simitis on Sunday, March 21, while earlier in the day they will be bestowed the Medal of the City of Athens by mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos. The royal couple will also visit Thessaloniki, where they will tour the Vergina archaelogical site and attend a dinner hosted by the Northern Greece Chamber of Commerce.

Head of Cyprus EU talks in Athens

Former Cypriot president George Vassiliou will be in Athens on Thursday at the invitation of the Greek foreign ministry to speak on the course of Cyprus' accession to the European Union. Vassiliou is the head of the negotiating team for accession talks. The foreign ministry is holding a seminar on "The advantages for the European Union from a Cyprus accession". The seminar will be held on March 12. Also scheduled to speak at the event are Cypriot Attorney General Alekos Markides and Greece's European Affairs Secretary-General Stelios Perrakis. Alternate Foreign Minister Yiannos Kranidiotis will close proceedings.

Greek MP reports on Turkish mood

Turkey's capture of Kurd rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan has unleashed a wave of persecution against the Kurds in Turkey and against anyone disagreeing with the official policy on the Kurdish issue, a Greek MP said in Athens on Wednesday. Stratis Korakas was speaking at a news conference after he participated in a Council of Europe United European Left delegation visited Istanbul March 7-9. The delegation has issued a statement underlining the urgent need to end the persecution of the Kurdish people and those opposed to the state policy on the Kurdish issue and calling for a political resolution to the issue. The delegation said the resolution of the Kurdish issue was intimately connected to the democratisation of Turkey.

Robber found hiding in car boot

A man was arrested hiding in the boot of a car on Wednesday shortly after a branch of the Agricultural Bank in the Athens district of Aghii Anargyri was held up by a gunman. He was identified as Apostolos Fotis, who police believe robbed the bank of nearly 3 million drachmas. A second, as yet unidentified, person was arrested who the police believe may have been an accomplice of Fotis. Two gunmen earlier held up a branch of the National Bank in the Athens district of Thission and escaped with 4 million drachmas.

Justice Minister admitted to hospital

Justice Minister Evangelos Yiannopoulos was admitted to the Athens Medical Centre on Wednesday suffering from a feverish flu infection. Doctors said Yiannopoulos would remain at the clinic as a purely precautionary measure. If all goes well, as is expected, Yiannopoulos is expected to be discharged sometime during the next few days.

Liani-Papandreou slapper gets 7 months

An Athens court on Wednesday sentenced a woman who slapped the widow of late premier Andreas Papandreou during a book-signing session to seven months jail. The woman, Anastasia Athini, filed an appeal and was released. The court found no mitigating circumstances and ruled Athini guilty of 'unprovoked physical abuse' for two slaps she delivered to Dimitra Liani- Papandreou on October 10, 1997, as Liani-Papandreou signed copies of her book on life with Papandreou, '10 years and 54 days'.

Greek mountaineers head for Kilimanjaro

Four young Greek mountainclimbers from Thessaloniki set off Friday on an expedition to conquer Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest peak on the African continent. The three men and one woman will attempt to climb the 6,000 metres to the top in six days, covering 1,000 metres a day. Vassilis Mitsos, Pandalis Tsertsevilis, Vangelis Hatzis and Anastasia Kontou, who are due back in Thessaloniki on March 21, said their next target will be Mt. Everest.

WEATHER

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

Wednesday's rates (buying)
U.S. dollar          293.245
Pound sterling       471.577
Japanese yen (100)   241.492
French franc          48.636
German mark          163.116
Italian lira (100)    16.476
Irish Punt           405.081
Belgian franc          7.909
Luxembourg franc       7.909
Finnish mark          53.656
Dutch guilder        144.769
Danish kr.            42.890
Austrian sch.         23.185
Spanish peseta         1.918
Swedish kr.           35.710
Norwegian kr.         37.260
Swiss franc          200.235
Port. Escudo           1.591
Aus. dollar          186.218
Can. dollar          193.896
Cyprus pound         550.362
Euro                 319.027

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