Athens News Agency: News in English, 00-02-15

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

CONTENTS

[01] Hunter - NATO - ELIAMEP

[02] Subs-contract

[03] Theodorakis - elections

[04] Interpol - Italian

[05] Sports roundup

[06] Drugs - arrests

[07] ASE-close

[08] Employment-OAED restructuring plans

[09] Government spokesman-oil price

[01] Hunter - NATO - ELIAMEP

The former US ambassador to NATO stressed in Athens on Tuesday that Greece�s strategic and political role within the Euro-Atlantic alliance is ?more important now than it was during the Cold War.?

Ambassador Robert E. Hunter justified his statement, made during a speech at the Greek foreign ministry�s auditorium, by adding that ?the US Air Force is not in Germany any longer, it�s in Italy. The (US) Sixth Fleet is more important than it was before?and with the locus of concern shifting so much towards the Near East, the Middle East and possibly to the Trans-Caucasus and even to the Caspian?having a rear area of Greece, Turkey and Cyprus, which is a positive contribution rather than an irritant, has become more important.

?Again, I salute you (Greece) for what you are doing; you�ll have the firm support of my country, even though I am no longer in the (US) government,? he said in a direct reference to recent highly publicised efforts at rapprochement between Athens and Ankara.

Hunter spoke at an event organised by the Athens-based Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)

[02] Subs-contract

The Skaramangas Shipyards on Tuesday signed an agreement with Ferrostaal Essen and HDW Kiel for the building of three Type 214 submarines, with an option for the construction of one more.

The total cost of the contract for the submarines comes to 430 billion drachmas, with offset benefits for Greek industries amounting to some 76 billion drachmas, or 19 percent of the contract.

These offset benefits will include pre-building procedures, development of the infrastructure of the shipyards and the construction of two ferry boats.

Among the Greek companies expected to be involved in offset benefit projects are Metka, Siemens Hellas, Intracom, Germanos, PYRKAL, EMEK and Hourdakis.

[03] Theodorakis - elections

Greece's ruling party on Tuesday denied that famous composer Mikis Theodorakis would stand for Parliament on its ticket in elections this April.

Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas told reporters that ruling socialists PASOK had great respect for Theodorakis, but that no issue of his running on the PASOK ticket had arisen.

Reppas was speaking to reporters in the wake of the decision by a leading former New Democracy member to throw in his lot with the ruling socialists.

Former conservative minister Vassilis Kontoyiannopoulos will stand as a candidate for PASOK on the Athens B' constituency. He has acted as an independent deputy in Parliament since being expelled from opposition New Democracy for failing to toe the party line.

[04] Interpol - Italian

An Italian man sought by Interpol and Italian authorities for involvement in smuggling activities was apprehended late on Monday night, Greek police reported.

Cosimo Calo, 55, was arrested at Mytika, near Preveza, northern Greece. He is suspected of being the ringleader of a cigarette smuggling ring working in the Adriatic and Ionian Seas.

Two speedboats thought to be used in the operation were found moored in Aktion.

Calo was brought before a public prosecutor on Tuesday to begin the process of his extradition to Italy.

[05] Sports roundup

Athletics

Greek female track & field stars Katerina Thanou and Niki Xanthou have announced that they will participate in an international indoor meet in Madrid on Wednesday.

Thanou, a world-class sprinter, recently posted a 7.6-second performance and came in second in the women�s 60-dash at the recent ?Athens 2000? indoor meeting � held over the weekend in the Greek capital. Sevathetha Feins, from the Bahamas, took first place with a time of 7.03.

Long-jumper Xanthou�s best performance came at a meet in Karlsruhe, where she posted a 6.68-metre jump.

[06] Drugs - arrests

A Bulgarian man was killed and another injured in a police operation on Sunday to break up a Balkans cocaine smuggling ring operating out of neighbouring Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), local police said.

Police said Bulgarian national and alleged former policeman Stoyan Stoyanov, 48, was killed and his compatriot, Ivan Kostov, 32, injured. Also injured was a Greek policeman, whose identity has not been released. He received knife wounds from Stoyanov while working undercover.

A man from FYROM, Miro Karanikolov, 30, was also arrested for acting as go-between between the cocaine dealers and prospective customers.

[07] ASE-close

Equity prices remained under pressure to end Tuesday's session lower on the Athens Stock Exchange, unable to hold on to their initial gains.

The general index ended 0.86 percent lower at 5,413.73 points, off the day's lows of 5,380, reflecting sharp losses in the smaller capitalisation and construction sectors.

Turnover was a moderate 215.28 billion drachmas.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks dropped 0.48 percent to 2,904.41 while the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index ended 1.77 percent lower at 906.61 points.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended at 1,509.39, off 3.94 percent.

[08] Employment-OAED restructuring plans

The Greek government on Tuesday announced plans to spend 860 billion drachmas in the next three years to support employment and to restructure the Manpower Organisation (OAED).

Labour and Social Insurance Minister Miltiadis Papaioannou, presenting OAED's annual report said that 300 billion drachmas will be granted from the European Social Fund and the remaining 560 billion drachmas from OAED's budget which is based on social contributions.

Papaioannou said he was fully satisfied with OAED's operation and its restructuring plans aimed to become more flexible and efficient.

During 1999, a total of 185,000 people, of which 101,000 unemployed, benefited from OAED's programmes with a total cost of 203 billion drachmas.

OAED also completed the huge work of massive registration of immigrants living in Greece. Out of a total 374,000 immigrants seeking a white card, 225,000 submitted formal applications for a green card with 110,000 of them completing legalisation procedures.

He said that Greece's national action plan included significant amendments referring to employment subsidies paid to employers.

[09] Government spokesman-oil price

The government and the economy are strong enough to deal with any problems arising from international higher oil prices, government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said on Tuesday.

Reppas said that higher crude oil costs also burdened other European Union states, affecting accordingly the inflation rate.

He underlined, however, that rising oil prices would not affect the procedure of the country's participation in EMU.

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