Athens News Agency: News in English, 03-02-28

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

CONTENTS

[01] Weather Forecast: Cloudy on Friday

[02] PM Simitis tells parliament Iraq has last chance to comply

[03] Athens sees Annan call for referendum on Cyprus, even without deal

[04] Greek tourism expands promotion cooperation with int'l TV networks

[05] Government funded programmes to aid Balkans, Black Sea

[01] Weather Forecast: Cloudy on Friday

Cloud is forecast in all parts of the country. Early morning visibility will be limited on the mainland. Winds east-northeasterly, moderate. In the north, temperatures will range from -5C to 12C; on the rest of the mainland from -2C to 14C; and in the islands from -3C to 14C. Temperatures in Athens between 3C and 13C; and in Thessaloniki from 0C to 12C.

[02] PM Simitis tells parliament Iraq has last chance to comply

Prime Minister Costas Simitis said on Thursday during a parliamentary debate on a possible war in Iraq that ''it is not the first time'' that the head of the UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix, has stressed in a report that ''Iraq has not cooperated smoothly and has not given all the necessary information so that it becomes certain that it does not possess any more weapons of mass destruction.''

It is the second or third time of recent, showing that ''the continuous appeals for compliance have no value if they are repeated without results,'' Simitis said.

The prime minister referred in particular to the point of the decision taken by the ''15'' during the emergency European summit on February 17 on the basis of which ''Iraq has a last chance to settle the crisis peacefully.''

''If someone does not adhere and continuously invokes procedural issues, this means stalling, and there should be a serious message to Iraq, because there has to be a sense of the time pressure in the developments,'' Simitis said.

Noting that the Greek EU presidency was obliged to seek the shaping of a common and unanimous position by the ''15'', he stressed that the crisis in Iraq showed an acute lack of understanding between the EU and the U.S. but also a lack of an EU Common Foreign and Security Policy.

The prime minister added that ''the Iraq crisis is at the same time a message for us EU member-states to act decisively in order for us to overcome our present weaknesses. Until then the shaping of common positions will always require persistent efforts with an uncertain result.''

[03] Athens sees Annan call for referendum on Cyprus, even without deal

Greek government spokesman Christos Protopapas on Thursday said it was highly likely that United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan would ask for simultaneous referendums on a proposed solution for the Cyprus issue by the two communities on the island, even if no prior agreement were reached by their leaders.

Speaking after a cabinet meeting that discussed a third proposed solution presented by Annan to all the sides involved the previous day, Protopapas said the UN chief would probably ask them to agree to separate referendums in the north and south of the island republic on March 30.

According to earlier an ANA dispatch from Nicosia, various sources have said that the UN is mulling a new formula that can sidestep the impasse by asking the Greek-Cypriots, Turkish-Cypriots and Greece and Turkey to agree to a referendum rather than sign a comprehensive agreement for reuniting the island.

Under the new formula, each side will probably have until March 10 to respond to a referendum with either a 'yes' or a 'no'.

Turkish-Cypriot leader Denktash is apparently planning to pre-empt the process by holding his own ''pre-referendum'' on March 8, though Greece has expressed concern about whether this willbe fully democratic.

[04] Greek tourism expands promotion cooperation with int'l TV networks

Greece's National Tourist Organisation (GNTO) is expanding its international partnerships with foreign media companies on promoting Greek tourism around the globe.

Following completion of a cooperation agreement with Visa International and NBC television network in the US (with no financial burden for the organisation), GNTO announced agreements with Canadian Broadcasting Corporation CBC, TVN2 (New Zealand), 7 Network Limited (Australia) and AOJC (Athens Olympic Japan Consortium).

Under the agreements, GNTO will promote - free of charge - Greek tourism and the Athens 2004 Olympic Games around the world this year and in 2004.

Meanwhile, China's television station ''Phoenix'' recently visited Greece to take television promotion footage on the invitation of the country's tourist authorities.

[05] Government funded programmes to aid Balkans, Black Sea

The Thessaloniki Stock Exchange Centre and Balkan and Black Sea Business Centre are to carry out government funded programmes to help boost business activity.

Financed by the foreign ministry, a scheme budgeted at 95,000 euros will support local business communities in Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro.

Another programme worth 40,000 euros is designed to support economic and social growth in Ukraine, Georgia and Armenia in order to strengthen their ties with Greece.

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