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Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 99-04-03Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr>NEWS IN ENGLISHAthens, Greece, 03/04/1999 (ANA)MAIN HEADLINES
NEWS IN DETAILTsohatzopoulos warns of attempt to change bordersDefence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos was on Saturday categorical in condemning Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, charging that the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo is aimed at changing borders in the region and making all the peoples of the Balkans hostage to the problem. Speaking in Skopje, he said the ultimate objective was to change existing borders. His remarks were strongly criticised by the Communist Party of Greece and the Democratic Social Movement. The Coalition of the Left expressed deep concern and charged that the Greek government also bore heavy responsibility for the situation. PASOK office bombed A makeshift explosive device exploded early Saturday morning outside a branch office of the ruling PASOK party in the Athens suburb of Galatsi, causing some damage to the building but no injuries. No warning was given prior to the blast and no group has yet claimed responsibility. Commenting on the wiring of the bomb, the police said they suspected that the November 17 terrorist group was behind the attack. PASOK's headquarters in downtown Athens were the target of a failed rocket attack on Thursday morning. Parliament committee calls for immediate ceasefire Parliament's standing defence and foreign affairs committee on Friday adopted a resolution calling for "an immediate ceasefire by all sides" as a prerequisite for the recommencement of political dialogue aiming at the resolution of the Kosovo crisis on the basis of Contact Group proposals. The resolution follows a two-day session of the committee focusing on developments in Yugoslavia. Deputies of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and the Democratic Social Movement (DHKKI) opposed the resolution, demanding instead outright condemndation of "NATO's barbarous air strikes". Deputy Secretary of State Talbott in Athens Foreign Minister George Papandreou will host a working lunch for U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott in Athens on Sunday. Talbott will be in the Greek capital as part of his tour of Balkan capitals. He is heading a U.S. delegation to Tirana, Skopje and other countries affected by the Kosovo crisis to thank them for supporting NATO operations, the White House said on Thursday. According to diplomatic sources, Talbott has requested a meeting with Prime Minister Costas Simitis. U.S. envoy says Greece's borders are safe U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns has stated to Athens daily To Vima that "the U.S. supports the territorial integrity of Greece and the inviolability of its borders." He said that Washington "understood the fact that Greece is the only member of NATO which is also a country in southeast Europe." Referring to comments by U.S. President Bill Clinton that instability in Kosovo could drag Greece and Turkey into war, Burns said that he had clarified the meaning of the comments to both Papandreou and Alternate Foreign Minister Yiannos Kranidiotis. Clinton meant "that both countries could be affected separately but negatively by the conflict." Expert says Greece has no fear of possible acid rain Greece need not fear clouds bearing acid rain being blown in from the regions to the north being bombed by NATO forces, an expert told the ANA on Friday. Chemistry professor and head of the Environmental Pollution Control Centre Themis Kouimtzis said most of the rain in Greece originated from air masses concentrated mainly in the Gulf of Genoa and Libya. The little cloud from central Europe arriving in Greece would have a marginal effect, Kouimtzis said, and only in the case that NATO bombs destroyed a large number of major chemical industries in Yugoslavia, which to date, has not happened. Chemical factories have been hit by NATO bombing over Yugoslavia, raising concerns that toxic fumes could affect the wider region. Group claims arson attack on Interamerican car An incendiary device placed under a car belonging to the Interamerican insurance company in Ioannina, northern Greece, early Friday morning caused damage to the front of the vehicle. A group calling itself "Direct Action" later claimed responsibility for the arson attack in a telephone call to an Athens newspaper. Ukrainian woman found strangled A Ukrainian woman was found dead, apparently strangled, in an apartment in central Athens, police said on Friday. The woman, around 30 years old, was found naked on the bed with a bra wrapped around her neck. A passport in the name of Ludmi Denkovic was found with the victim's clothes, but police were investigating to confirm the identity. Aid for NATO bomb victims to leave next week A container of pharmaceutical and medical supplies is expected to depart the northern capital on Tuesday, destined for victims of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. One hospital official in the city said all Thessaloniki's hospitals had contributed significant ammounts of pharmaceutical supplies to the consignment. The aid is restricted, in line with the requests from the Red Cross in Kosovo, to serum, antibiotics, bandages, syringes and anaesthesics. Foodstuffs and clothing has been gathered at the city's international fairgrounds. Daily, dozens of residents donate clothing, shoes, flour, sugar and pasta products. About 12.5 tonnes of food is expected to reach Thessaloniki on Monday, collected by groups on the island of Samos. Thessaloniki doctors prepare to volunteer The Thessaloniki Medical Association (TMA) said it was organising volunteer groups of doctors and nurses to provide help if it was needed to victims of the NATO bombings in Yugosalavia. "We have an open line with hospitals in Serbia and if there is a need we are ready to offer our help," TMA president Christos Papaconstantiniou said at a news conference. He said the groups would consist of 15 members, including surgeons, orthopedic surgeons, heart surgeons, nurses and stretcher bearers. He said dozens of people, including specialists and members of the public, had indicated interest. Greek equities make sharp recovery from dive Equity prices rebounded spectacularly on Friday recovering a big part of their previous two-day sharp losses on the Athens Stock Exchange. The general index ended 182.10 points, or 5.83 percent, higher to 3,303.49. Turnover was 113.2 billion drachmas and volume 21,076,222 shares. Traders called Thursday's steep fall unjustified and said that today's bargain- hunting, particularly for blue chip stocks, was a normal upward correction.Market sentiment was encouraged by renewed hopes of a diplomatic solution to the Kosovo crisis, stable conditions in the domestic money and bond markets and positive comments on the Greek economy by Morgan Stanley, the US investment firm. WEATHERUnsettled in most parts of Greece on Sunday, with cloud, rain, local storms but some periods of sunshine, mainly in the south. Winds will be northerly, light to moderate, in western, northern and central parts of the country and southerly, with the same strength, in the rest of Greece. Unsettled in Athens, temperatures 9-18C. Similar weather in Thessaloniki, temperatures 8- 16C.FOREIGN EXCHANGEFriday's rates (buying) U.S. dollar 301.161 Pound sterling 484.790 Japanese yen (100) 252.087 French franc 49.437 German mark 165.804 Italian lira (100) 16.748 Irish Punt 411.756 Belgian franc 8.039 Luxembourg franc 8.039 Finnish mark 54.541 Dutch guilder 147.154 Danish kr. 43.636 Austrian sch. 23.567 Spanish peseta 1.949 Swedish kr. 36.456 Norwegian kr. 38.857 Swiss franc 203.196 Port. Escudo 1.618 Aus. dollar 190.717 Can. dollar 199.392 Cyprus pound 560.797 Euro 324.285(S.S.) Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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