Athens News Agency: News in English, 00-12-20

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

CONTENTS

[01] Basketball-SuproLeague-Panathinaikos-Win

[02] Soccer-Panathinaikos-Ajax-Wembley-Veterans

[03] Niotis-Burns-Airport security

[04] Olympic Games-"Athens 2004"-Romero

[05] National Defence Minister-Bosnia-Visit

[06] Foreign Exchange Rates-Thursday

[07] Weather Forecast-Thursday

[08] Greece - Turkey - prisoner murders - reactions

[09] EU - Greece - Turkey - prisoner murders - FM

[10] ASE-close

[11] Mitsotakis - congratulates Bush on election

[01] Basketball-SuproLeague-Panathinaikos-Win

Panathinaikos Athens beat Maccabi Ra Anana of Israel 82-68 in a match played for the eighth round of the European SuproLeague basketball championship in Tel Aviv on Wednesday night. It was the second away win for Panathinaikos in the championship and the fifth in the eight games played so far.

[02] Soccer-Panathinaikos-Ajax-Wembley-Veterans

Veterans of the Panathinaikos Athens soccer team who played against Ajax Amsterdam in the European Champions Cup final at Wembley stadium in London in 1971 beat the Dutch team's veterans of the same period 1-0 in a friendly match played at Arina stadium in Amsterdam on Wednesday night.

The match, watched by a crowd of 50,000, was played as part of celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of Ajax. The match lasted for 20 minutes and the only goal was scored by Mimis Domazos at the beginning of the second half.

Ajax won the final in 1971 2-0 and carried off the cup for the first time in its history, while Panathinaikos was the first Greek team ever to play in a final of the European Champions Cup. To date, no other Greek team has played in a final of the European Champions Cup or of the European Champions League as it is now called.

[03] Niotis-Burns-Airport security

US Ambassador to Athens Nicholas Burns visited Deputy Foreign Minister Grigoris Niotis on Wednesday who, according to reports, discussed with the US diplomat information publicised on the state of security at Greek airports.

The reports said that Niotis expressed concern over the contents of such information which deal a blow at the country's image abroad in an unjustifiable manner.

The foreign ministry, the reports added, intends to take action and initiatives to tackle such phenomena.

[04] Olympic Games-"Athens 2004"-Romero

Manolo Romero and the IBS joint venture will be the sole sponsor for the radio and TV coverage of the Athens Olympic Games in 2004, following a decision taken on Wednesday by the 17-member board of the Athens 2004 Organising Committee.

The next step to complete the agreement on the Olympiad's radio and TV coverage, an issue which had been delayed according to International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials, will be the ratification of the text by the IOC as well in the next few days.

Meanwhile, the proclamation for the hiring of two technical advisers who will monitor work being carried out for the Olympic projects will be publicised on Thursday. The first technical adviser will monitor the Olympic projects and the second communications projects.

[05] National Defence Minister-Bosnia-Visit

National Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos on Wednesday held talks with officials of the republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina in Sarajevo, who expressed the country's desire to rejoin international organisations and the Multinational Brigade of Southeastern Europe.

Tsohatzopoulos had sucessive meetings with the federal government's Defence Minister Miroslav Pirlic, Alternate Minister Sakib Mahmoulin, Foreign Minister Yiabranko Pirlic, the members of the federation's three-member presidency and its President Zivko Radisic.

He also met with the commanding officer of SFOR Lieutenant General Michael Dodson.

During his meeting with the Serb Republic's Defence Minister Manolio Milovanovic, Tsohatzopoulos expressed the need for new initiatives to be undertaken by the international community to facilitate a speedup in the procedures of both the restructuring and completion of democratic institutions in Bosnia-Herzegovina and its linkage with European prospects.

Milovanovic expressed the need for the development of cooperation between the defence ministers of southeastern Europe on the question of their countries' defence systems since, as he assessed, stability in the region depends on the defence systems of the countries in the region.

[06] Foreign Exchange Rates-Thursday

Indicative rates released by the central bank for the next working day.

Thursday's rates (buying)

Euro 338.014

U.S. dollar 375.809

German mark 172.824

French franc 051.529

Pound sterling 550.401

Irish punt 429.190

Belgian franc 008.379

Luxembourg franc 008.379

Dutch guilder 153.384

Italian lira (100) 017.457

Austrian schilling 024.565

Danish kroner 045.305

Swedish kroner 038.797

Finnish mark 056.850

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 332.439

Swiss franc 223.101

Norwegian kroner 041.535

Cyprus pound 589.248

Canadian dollar 245.123

Australian dollar 205.220

[07] Weather Forecast-Thursday

Scattered cloud is forecast throughout Greece on Thursday, turning to showers or sleet in most areas, with snow on high ground. Temperatures will drop sharply. Winds variable, moderate to very strong. In the north, temperatures will range from -3C to 6C; in the west from 3C to 13C; and in the rest of the country from 2C to 12C. Cloud and showers in Athens, with snow on high ground outside the capital. Temperatures between 4C and 9C. Same in Thessaloniki with temperatures from 1C to 6C.

[08] Greece - Turkey - prisoner murders - reactions

Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas described the bloodbath in Turkey's jails during an operation by Turkish security forces as a "stain on civilisation" on Wednesday, who noted that Turkey was under close scrutiny from the European Union.

"The inhuman violence used and the autocratic conditions under which the operation was carried out are a stain on civilisation," Reppas said. He added that observations by officials were not enough and that the EU had to take on its responsibilities.

The spokesman said that Parliament speaker Apostolos Kaklamanis would be contacting other national parliaments and international organisations over the situation in Turkey, and that the Greek government was extremely interested in events in neighbouring Turkey and showed this interest in a pointed way.

[09] EU - Greece - Turkey - prisoner murders - FM

DHAKA (ANA - D. Constantakopoulos) Foreign Minister George Papandreou, currently on a two-day official visit to Bangladesh, expressed "sorrow and concern" over the violence in Turkey's jails on Wednesday, when asked to comment on the murder of hunger-striking prisoners by Turkish security forces.

Papandreou said that "all of Europe is watching the developments with interest and concern, especially following the signature of the partnership agreement, which is shown once again to be a compass of criteria for EU-Turkey relations."

Greece, he added, did not only possess democratic sensitivities but had also fought battles for democracy.

Finally, he said that he would soon be meeting his Swedish counterpart to discuss the Swedish EU presidency's views on implementing the partnership agreement on human rights issues.

The Greek foreign minister is currently on a tour of south Asian countries, and arrived in Bangladesh from Nepal on Tuesday.

[10] ASE-close

The Athens Stock Exchange's general index finished 0.24 percent lower on Wednesday to close at 3,454.28 points, with turnover at approximately 73 billion drachmas.

(detailed report to come)

[11] Mitsotakis - congratulates Bush on election

Honorary New Democracy President Constantine Mitsotakis, who has served as Greek prime minister in 1990-1993, said he had sent a telegram to newly-elected US President George Bush on Wednesday.

As well as congratulating Bush on his election as the 43rd US president, Mitsotakis also expressed hope that he would turn his attention to solving the Cyprus problem, saying that the issue had also been tackled jointly by himself and Bush's father during the latter's presidency.

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