The General Affiars Council, which was mainly occupied with preparing the Spring Summit Meeting of European leaders, which will be dedicated to the economic and social agenda of the EU, is also looking into the crisis in Iraq and the situation in Serbia.

President of the Council, Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou, decided that the discussion on Iraq should take place during dinner, as the Foreign Ministers of Spain, France, and Germany had not arrived in Brussels, while British Foreign Minister J ack Straw is not expected in the Belgian capital due to the discussion concerning Iraq in the House of Representatives.

In his statements, Mr. Papandreou expressed his sorrow at the lack of unanimity in the EU and the Security Council and mentioned that tonight's discussion will concern the possible consequences on the broader region, with an emphasis on the stability of Turkey, the need to secure Iraq's territorial integrity and developments in the Middle Easter issue, as well as the pending publication of the roadmap for the resolving of the Palestinian issue. He also pointed out that the EU must open a dialogue with th e US on these issues and the future course of the UN.

The General Union of Greek Workers, the Civil Servants Union and the Athens Workers' Center have already decided on holding a rally on the day after the attack, as well as a walk-out in the public sector from 12 noon until the end of the shift.

At the same time, wakes have been organized all over Greece's major cities, while a rally has been organized at Syntagma Square in Athens, to be followed by a protest march to the US Embassy.

The Thessaloniki Prefecture called its citizens today to a prayer meeting from 19:30 to 22:00 at the St. Dimitrios church. The Civil Servants' Union of Thessaloniki has called its members to a rally at 19:00 on the first day of the war in the Ancient Mar ket square. The Greek Social Forum will also participate in the rally.

"Action: Thessaloniki 2003" will meet at 12 noon at the statue of Venizelos, while the Struggle Initiative "Thessaloniki 2003" will meet at Kamara at 18:00.

Meanwhile, emergency security measures have been taken at airports throughout Greece, which are on military standby. The signal for the activation of the security measures was decided on by the newly formed ministerial committee, and sent out by the Civi c Aviation Service. It concerns all airports, but mainly the ones in Heracleon, Chania, Rhodes, Western Greece and Thrace.

Specifically, the runways and airports, as well as other facilities and refueling stations are now guarded. Security systems include police and military forces, as well as the latest surveillance and communication equipment and CCTV cameras.

The hearings proceeded with testimonies from witnesses of the killing of police officer Christos Matis on December 24, 1984, during an armed bank robbery. Bank employee Aggeliki Davila, stated she thinks that the man who entered the bank posing as a poli ce officer is Christos Matis, although she could not be completely certain.

Yesterday, two more witnesses recognized Dimitris Koufontinas as the man in the police uniform who immobilized Christos Matis, although they could not say who shot him with certainty.

All of the witnesses stated that they could be more certain if they were shown pictures of the defendants dating back to that time.

Alexandros Giotopoulos and Christodoulos Xeros were also recognized as accomplices in the killing of publisher Nikos Momferatos and his driver Panagiotis Rousetis, by journalist and eyewitness Constantinos Bakatselos.

During his testimony, Mr. Bakatselos recognized two of the four persons who participated in the attack, in the faces of Christodoulos Xeros, one of the two doing the shooting, and Alexandros Giotopoulos, as the man that exited the getaway car to urge the

rest of the members to get back in and leave.

Giotopoulos reacted at the moment he was recognized, and the President of the court asked the witness to indicate who was present at the attack. Mr. Bakatselos turned and pointed at Alexandros Giotopoulos.

"It was not me. I had different hair back then, it was shorter. How could you recognize me after 20 years", asked Giotopoulos. The witness repeated: "I am sure Mr. Giotopoulos, I recognize you".

In fact, Mr. Bakatselos supported that it was Alexandros Giotopoulos who directed the other members of the organization.

At the same time, Aggeliki Sotiropoulou reacted intensely to the accusation of participating in the Christos Matis murder. Witness Michalis Chalvatzis stated that he saw a woman give a box of sweets to the man dressed as a police officer. However the man

was unable to describe the woman and could only say that she was much shorter than the "police officer". Mr. Chalvatzoglou was then shown a picture of Aggeliki Sotiropoulou, an action that caused reactions from Sotiropoulou's attorney Ioanna Kourtovic, w ho stated that her client is not even a suspect in the case. Addressing the court, Aggeliki Sotiropoulou asked: "Does a prosecutor have the right to ask questions about me when I'm not accused?".

By throwing red paint, eggs, gravel, and garbage bags, the students did not allow the crew to disembark.

The Spanish destroyer was in the Souda harbor early in the morning as part of a NATO mission, according to information from the "Chaniotika Nea" newspaper.

The presence of the ship in the Souda harbor instead of pier K-14 in Marathi, where NATO ships usually dock, sounded an alarm among the students.

Within a few minutes there were more than 150 students on the pier right next to the ship and started shouting condemning comments against the Spanish soldiers: Soldatos, fasistas, terroristas (soldiers, fascists, terrorists) and assassinos (assassins).

There was some tension between the students and the coast guard men sent to keep the students away from the ship, but the Spanish destroyer set of further into the Souda bay and the incident ended.

Greek Social Forum and there was intense criticism of the position of the US concerning Iraq during a book presentation by Bonnie Miller, wife of US Ambassador to Athens, Thomas Miller. I am not a representative of the Embassy, answered Mrs. Miller.

The activists surprised the police officers guarding the British Consulate in downtown Thessaloniki and a delegation reached the consulate's offices on the 5th floor of the building housing the British diplomatic mission. They delivered a resolution and then members of the forum hanged a sign from the building's flat roof with the slogan "No war".

There was tension between police and the activists when television crews were not allowed to enter the Consulate offices where the demonstration was taking place. Finally, the journalists were allowed to enter the consulate after negotiations.

The resolution delivered by the Greek Social Forum activists calls for an end to the war plans of the United States and Britain.

Mr. Beglitis clarified that no other Greek embassy in the region has taken similar action.

Mr. Protopapas pointed out that this is not an intervention and it concerns their own safety.

Responding to relevant questions, Mr. Protopapas stressed that the Greek EU Presidency will continue the efforts and give battles for the EU common foreign and defense policy, pointing out that the different positions should not affect the EU capability to look for solutions and common initiatives.

Mr. Protopapas also stated that Prime Minister Kostas Simitis had a telephone communication last night with French President Jacques Chirac and discussed Spring Summit issues.

Mr. Protopapas stated that the French warship "Charles de Gaul" will sail into the port of Souda, Crete on March 21 as scheduled.

The Lisbon Strategy followed since 2002 and expected to be completed in 2010 will be examined in the Brussels Spring Summit meeting on Friday. The basic axes of the strategy will be employment, pensions and social cohesion. The economic sector includes i ssues such as entrepreneurship, the economy of knowledge, transportation, money and credit services, and market liberalization.

On the imminent war in Iraq, he pointed out that everybody's wish is for this war to be averted, adding that unfortunately developments overturned the expectations of the text adopted by the extraordinary EU Summit meeting of February 17.

According to Mr. Hitiris, chances are minimal for a peaceful settlement of the crisis over Iraq.

He said that there is a need to restore the UN role, stressing that a common EU foreign and defense policy is necessary. He said that March 31 is a big day as the NATO forces in FYROM will be replaced by the Euro-army, while he also referred to the EU-US

Summit that will take place in Washington in June 2003.

He also underlined the need for the materialization of the Action Plan on the Palestinian issue drawn up by the United States, Russia and the European Union.

The general index rose to +0.33% at 1.543,29 points, while the volume of transactions was small at 57.3 million euros.

Of the stocks trading today, the overwhelming majority of 218 recorded gains and 90 had losses, while the value of 75 stocks remained unchanged.

The book presentation took place in Thessaloniki at the initiative of the UNESCO Center for Women and Peace in the Balkan Countries. Greek Communist Party members had gathered outside the building holding signs and chanting slogans against the United Sta tes, Britain and the Greek government.

A 38yearold working mother, who attended the presentation event with her daughter, launched a verbal attack on the US ambassador's wife accusing her of hypocrisy and saying that millions of children will be killed in Iraq .

Mrs. Miller responding later to questions by journalists she explained that she had come to Thessaloniki to present her book. She said that she is not representing the US government and that there are others who can respond to questions concerning Iraq. She also underlined that she is not a politician but a psychologist.

The Athens International Airport has increased the security personnel car patrols as well as foot patrols.

Also, checks are being conducted by security personnel on cars and individuals entering the airport.

Mr. Bach stated that the overall preparations proceed in a satisfactory way, pointing out that not one moment should be missed.

A large part of the debate that followed concerned the need for the European Union to have a common foreign and defense policy especially, in the light of the developments in the crisis in Iraq.

All the deputies, who addressed the Parliament during the debate on the draft law, were against the US-British attack on Iraq. At the same time, they castigated the unilateral US decision to ignore UN resolution 1441 and stressed the need for a common EU

foreign policy and a single Greek national strategy.

Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Andreas Loverdos pointed out again that the position of the Greek government is clear. Namely, it is against the war and in favor of peaceful means for the settlement of the crisis.

Transport Minister Mr. Christos Verelis met with Civil Aviation Agency representatives and in statements he made, stressed that air traffic from Europe to the Middle East countries is on the decline in the past few hours and that most airlines are gradua lly stopping their passenger flights to the Gulf region.

Olympic Airways has stopped its flights to Kuwait 10 days ago, while today the passenger flights to Jeddah, Cairo and Tel Aviv are expected to be held as scheduled.

The Transport Minister also announced that there is an agreement according to which, Jordanian passenger planes will be hosted at the Athens International Airport when the attack on Iraq gets underway.

Mr. Verelis stated that as soon as the hostilities start in Iraq is likely that three air corridors will be closed, mainly at the borders of Turkey with Iraq, which means that about 200 passenger flights will be affected on a daily basis.

Mr. Simitis will have meetings today with the President of the Commission Romano Prodi, the President of the European Parliament Pat Cox and the social partners.

On Thursday afternoon, prior to the opening of the Summit's works, Mr. Simitis will participate in the Summit Meeting of European Socialists.

In the meanwhile, Mr. Cox decided on an emergency meeting of the European Parliament to be held on Thursday morning in the seat of the Body in Brussels. The meeting will commence at 10am (Greek time), but no proposals will be voted on.

in New York on March 30, 2003.

The program of the celebrations begins tomorrow with events in the Queens Burough Hall, organized by Assembly Member Michael Giannaris and Hellen Marshall, President of the Queens Burough Hall.

The programme includes poetry readings, traditional dances, and songs, as well as theatrical performances by children from schools in the New York district. On March 26, Mayor of New York Mike Bloomberg will deliver the Declaration of the Independence Da y Parade, although there have been reactions from his refusal to hold the reception at his official residence. Thus, on the following day, the reception will be held at the "Coffman" Studios, while members from the Presidential guard will visit schools in

the area and the ceremony of the Declaration will be carried out by Governor of New York Geroge Patakis.

On Friday, March 28, a hoisting of the Greek flag will be held in Bowling Greek Park, to the sound of the Greek national anthem being sung by choirs from Greek churches.

Events will reach their climax on Sunday, March 30, with the Formal Doxology at the Metropolitan Church, officiated by the Archbishop of America Dimitrios.

The parade will commence from the Plaza Hotel at 13:00, while a cultural event has been organized for that night at the Stathakio Center.

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