Athens News Agency: News in English, 04-03-29

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

CONTENTS

[01] Greek PM, Cyprus president confer ahead of presentation of new Annan

[02] Submission of revised Annan plan postponed for 90 minutes

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates: Monday

[04] Weather Forecast: Local showers on Monday

[05] Turkish academic's sabre-rattling seen as 'un-European', at best

[06] Annan expected to present final Cyprus peace plan on Monday

[01] Greek PM, Cyprus president confer ahead of presentation of new Annan plan

Buergenstock (ANA/A. Panagopoulos) -- Greek prime minister Costas Karamanlis was conferring Monday morning with Cyprus president Tassos Papadopoulos ahead of UN secretary general Kofi Annan's presentation of his new (4th) plan for a Cyprus settlement, scheduled for 12:00 noon (Greek time), in ongoing UN-sponsored talks.

Karamanlis, who arrived in the Swiss ski resort of Buergenstock late Sunday, was scheduled to attend a meeting of the Cyprus National Council at 11:00 (Greek time), while he also had a very brief meeting with Turkish foreign minister Abdullah Gul following his arrival Sunday night.

The meeting with Gul took place at the initiative of the Turkish foreign minister and was of a courtesy nature. Gul congratulated Karamanlis on his recent election victory and briefed him on the results of Sunday's municipal elections in Turkey. He also informed Karamanlis that Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan would be arriving in Switzerland on Monday afternoon.

[02] Submission of revised Annan plan postponed for 90 minutes

BUERGENSTOCK (ANA/F. Karaviti) -- UN secretary general Kofi Annan's presentation of his new (4th) plan for a Cyprus settlement to the sides involved in the negotiations at the Swiss resort town of Buergenstock will be delayed for an hour and a half, and will be given to the sides at 12:30 noon Monday (Swiss time, 1:30 p.m. Greek time) instead of 11:00 (Swiss time, 12:00 noon Greek time) as originally scheduled.

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates: Monday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.227

Pound sterling 0.675

Danish kroner 7.506

Swedish kroner 9.340

Japanese yen 129.6

Swiss franc 1.568

Norwegian kroner 8.513

Cyprus pound 0.590

Canadian dollar 1.623

Australian dollar 1.644

[04] Weather Forecast: Local showers on Monday

Local showers are forecast throughout the country on Monday, with temperatures ranging from 6 to 20 C.

Athens will be cloudy, with some rain in the morning, and temperatures of 11-18 C. Cloudy in Thessaloniki, with chances of showers in the morning, and temperatures of 8-15 C.

[05] Turkish academic's sabre-rattling seen as 'un-European', at best

?Extreme? and ?outdated? were the unofficial responses from government sources over the weekend to a Turkish university rectors comments on Friday, namely, that ''if necessary'' Turkey could conquer Greece and Cyprus even if it meant 135,000 Turkish combat fatalities.

Istanbul university rector Kemal Alemdaroglu was identified as the high-ranking academic that made the statement, following the screening of a film in Istanbul about the Dardanelles campaign (1915) and subsequent quips about ongoing negotiations in Switzerland over the Cyprus issue.

Alemdaroglu also told a Turkish audience that he belonged to a generation that demonstrated for ?partition or death?, another direct reference to the partially Turkish-occupied island republic.

His exact statement was: ?Dont dare make concessions over Cyprus, if necessary, even with 135,000 dead, we can conquer Greece and Cyprus.?

?(Hes) unable to understand the new realities that are being created by Turkeys European prospect, as well as that of the wider SE European region,? sources said.

On his part, noted Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis, in statements on Sunday, asked whether the regime to be imposed on a conquered Greece will be ?that of an Ottoman sultan ... or that of Hitler?.

Finally, both the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and the Coalition of the Left (Synaspismos) disparaged Alemdaroglus comments.

Another fact regarding the Istanbul rector is that he is a past winner of the Ipekci award, bestowed on individuals that have promoted Greek-Turkish rapprochement.

[06] Annan expected to present final Cyprus peace plan on Monday

BURGENSTOCK, Switzerland (ANA /A. Panagopoulos) Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis arrived in Zurich on Sunday evening to participate in closely watched UN-sponsored talks here for a comprehensive Cyprus settlement.

According to press reports from the Swiss resort where the talks are being held, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan will present the final peace plan to all sides in the morning, and not at the same time due to its size reportedly more than 9,000 pages.

Karamanlis, who was expected to be briefed by Greek Foreign Minister Petros Molyviatis on the latter's talks with UN mediator Alvaro De Soto held earlier in the day, is to return to Athens on Wednesday.

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