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

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

CONTENTS

[01] Proposal on Olympic Truce during Olympic Games gets UN's unprecedented

[02] Foreign ministry rules out Turkish proposal for five-way talks on

[03] Greek deputies received by Israeli counterparts

[04] Hospitality cruiseship sails into Piraeus for Athens 2004 Olympics

[05] Greece outlines proposals on Mediterranean products

[06] Strike to disrupt Olympic, Aegean domestic flights

[07] Foreign Exchange Rates: Tuesday

[08] Weather Forecast: Cloud, rain on Tuesday

[09] ASE greets November with solid gains

[01] Proposal on Olympic Truce during Olympic Games gets UN's unprecedented majority

NEW YORK (ANA/F. Karaviti) - A resolution submitted by Greece for an Olympic Truce in light of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games was ratified by the UN General Assembly on Monday with an unprecedented majority and in a warm atmosphere in the presence of International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge.

Out of a total of 191 members (Iraq, although a UN member, is not represented at the General Assembly), the UN ratified resolution A/58/L9 with 190 votes, which anticipates the cessation of hostilities between August 13-29, 2004, and revives the ancient Greek idea of a Truce.

Addressing the General Assembly, Foreign Minister George Papandreou, the resolution's rapporteur, referred to the Olympic Truce and spoke of the ''longest living peace treaty in history'' and called on the members of the international community ''to send a symbolic message of peace and cooperation among peoples.''

[02] Foreign ministry rules out Turkish proposal for five-way talks on Cyprus issue

Asked to comment on a proposal by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for five-way talks on the Cyprus problem, the foreign ministry on Monday reiterated that this could not be solved outside an international framework.

Foreign ministry spokesman Panos Beglitis stressed that the Cyprus issue also had a European dimension, as a result of Cyprus' accession to the European Union.

According to the spokesman, the Turkish premier's ''continuous and contradictory statement confirmed that Turkey's policy with regard to the Cyprus issue has reached an impasse''.

[03] Greek deputies received by Israeli counterparts

JERUSALEM (ANA/P. Dimitropoulos) - A delegation of the Greek Parliament was received on Monday by a delegation of Kneset deputies and discussed the significance of Greece's role toward the reconciliation between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Head of the Greek delegation Panayiotis Sgouridis spoke of the significance of dialogue ''as the singular tool for the confrontation of differences'' and expressed the hope that ''the new - under formation - government of the Palestinians would promote the road map of the international community during negotiations with the Israeli government''.

He added that Greece is maintaining correct distance from both sides.

[04] Hospitality cruiseship sails into Piraeus for Athens 2004 Olympics

A luxury cruiseship that will be used as a floating hotel in the Athens 2004 Olympics sailed into the port of Piraeus on Monday.

The OS Oosterdam is one of 13 vessels that will be anchored in the port for the games, housing 13,000 visitors for the international event.

The cruiseship, which has as capacity of 1,848 passengers and a crew of 800, is also one of two five-star vessels among ships to be used as hotels during the games.

Representatives of the Athens organisers visited the Oosterdam on a tour of inspection.

The vessel was brought by Sportius Hospitality, a member of the hospitality campaign for the Olympics.A sister vessel, the MS Rotterdam, will also be commissioned.

[05] Greece outlines proposals on Mediterranean products

Agriculture Minister George Drys on Monday outlined Greece's proposals on Mediterranean farm products to the European Union's farming commissioner, Franz Fischler.

At a meeting in Brussels, Drys said that the government was seeking improvement of the EU Commission's proposals on tobacco in order to better safeguard the future of the crop in Greece.

For olive oil, the government wanted national quotas retained, which Fischler accepted.

Among proposals for cotton were that producers' groups should undertake management of subsidies. The groups needed to be formed immediately, the minister said.

[06] Strike to disrupt Olympic, Aegean domestic flights

Domestic flights of Olympic Airways and Aegean Airlines are expected to suffer severe disruption on Tuesday due to a strike by staff in air traffic control joining a civil servants' walkout.

Olympic has cancelled 19 domestic flights, and Aegean three, the two companies said in separate statements on Monday.

[07] Foreign Exchange Rates: Tuesday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.168

Pound sterling 0.689

Danish kroner 7.493

Swedish kroner 9.145

Japanese yen 128.7

Swiss franc 1.566

Norwegian kroner 8.292

Cyprus pound 0.587

Canadian dollar 1.551

Australian dollar 1.651

[08] Weather Forecast: Cloud, rain on Tuesday

All parts of the country will see cloud, with showers and storms chiefly on the mainland. The west will remain dry. Winds variable, moderate to strong. In the north, temperatures will range from 8C to 17C; in the rest of the country from 10C to 21C; and in the islands from 12C to 24C. Temperatures in Athens between 15C and 22C; and in Thessaloniki from 12C to 17C.

[09] ASE greets November with solid gains

Greek stocks ended Monday's session sharply higher in the Athens Stock Exchange, marking the first trading session of November with solid gains, reflecting renewed buying interest for equities.

The general index rose 1.88 percent to end at 2,163.18 points, surpassing the 2,500-point technical resistance level. Turnover was a heavy 192.9 million euros.

All sector indices ended higher. The Textile (6.01 percent), Insurance (5.57 percent) and Publications (4.13 percent) scored the biggest percentage gains of the day.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks jumped 2.04 percent higher, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index rose 2.15 percernt and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index surged 3.50 percent.

Broadly, advancers led decliners by 315 to 30 with another 20 issues unchanged.

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