Athens News Agency: News in English, 02-11-03

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

CONTENTS

[01] Greece will not give Turkey pretext to cause problems for Cyprus' EU

[02] Weather Monday - Cloudy, rain

[03] Kenya's Saina, Germany's Krolik win gold medals at 20th Athens marathon

[01] Greece will not give Turkey pretext to cause problems for Cyprus' EU entry

Greek Defence Minister Yiannos Papantoniou on Saturday termed as unacceptable ''the continuing Turkish provocation in the Aegean.''

Speaking from Rhodes where earlier in the day he opened a seminar entitled ''Mediterranean Dimension of the European Security and Defence Policy'', Papantoniou reiterated that ''Greece reacts with calm and firmness'' to the infringements of the Athens Flight Information Region (FIR) and to the violations of the country's national air space by Turkish warplanes, because ''we do not want to give any pretext to the neighbour to cause problems in Cyprus' EU accession course.''

He said ''we are firm and remain firm, but we are also ready for every eventuality,'' adding that ''for this reason the Greek Armed Forces are on an exceptionally high level of alert.''

Papantoniou also clarified that the issue of Cyprus' EU accession was completely separate to that of the European Army issue.

[02] Weather Monday - Cloudy, rain

Partly cloudy to cloudy skies are forecast for around the country on Monday, with rain showers possible in the west and across the mainland. Southwesterly winds, moderate to strong, gusty on the seas.

Temperatures between 7C to 17C in the north; 10C to 22C on the rest of the mainland and 15C to 23C on the islands.

Cloudy in Athens, 13C to 22C. Cloudy with a chance of afternoon rain in Thessaloniki, 9C to 17C.

[03] Kenya's Saina, Germany's Krolik win gold medals at 20th Athens marathon

Kenyan runners dominated the 20th annual Athens Marathon on Sunday, held over the historic ?Classical Route? that links the eastern Attica community of Marathon with the Greek capitals all-marble Panathenian Stadium, as Mark Saina finished first with a time of 2:18:20.

His compatriots John Moiben (2:18.45) and Elias Corir (2:18.56) followed, while the best Greek showing was Vassilis Zabelis sixth place with a time of 2:20.38. Six out of the first eight finishes were posted by Kenyan runners.

Germanys Sonja Krolik finished first on the womens side with a time of 2:37.29, followed by Greeces Georgia Abatzidou (2:47.22) and Vitoria Zueva from Russia (2:49.24).

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