Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English, 97-12-18

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From: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.

BRIEF GREEK NEWS BULLETIN BY MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY

Thessaloniki, December 18, 1997

TITLES

[01] UKRANIAN AIRPLANE MISSING NEAR MT. OLYMPUS, HAS YET TO BE LOCATED

[02] GREEK WORKERS UNIONS EMBARK ON 24-HOUR STRIKE TODAY

[03] US REITERATE SUPPORT FOR TURKEY�S ACCESSION TO THE WEST

NEWS IN DETAIL

[01] UKRANIAN AIRPLANE MISSING NEAR MT. OLYMPUS, HAS YET TO BE LOCATED

Thessaloniki, December 18 (MPA)

The YAK-42 aircraft, conducting the charter flight from Kiev, via Odessa, was supposed to land in Thessaloniki shortly after 1930 GMT. It disappeared from the radar of Thessaloniki�s air traffic control tower yesterday at 7:13 p.m. when it approached the landing corridor without embarking on landing maneuvers. According to the �Macedonia� airport officials, the tower personnel guided the Ukrainian pilot to delay landing, by making a turn above the city and re-attempt the landing process. The pilot turned westward, above the Thermaicos Bay, and in turn flew southwest of the airport. The last time it was located on the radar it was flying at an altitude of 1,000 meters, 15 kilometers away the city of Veria.

Laborious searches are being carried out by Navy ships, a C- 130 military plane and other security forces west of the Aegean Sea and the mountains near Katerini in central Greece. Two C-130 Hercules military transports and Chinook helicopters equipped for bad weather are taking part, along with warships, police launches and merchant vessels. Tanks from an armored division stationed at Litohoron at the foot of Mount Olympus are also in the area, while ambulances and rescue workers are on stand-by in Thessaloniki and Katerini.

The Minister of Macedonia-Thrace Philippos Petsalnikos said that the search efforts have been stretched to the area of Kilkis, northeast of Thessaloniki. The Ukrainian passenger plane, carrying 42 Greeks on board, had replaced a Boeing 737 which had mechanical failure. A.F.

[02] GREEK WORKERS UNIONS EMBARK ON 24-HOUR STRIKE TODAY

Athens, December 18 (MPA)

The striking workers are demanding that their salaries be increased and fortified against inflation, while they also ask that the government index to a greater degree the income-tax brackets to inflation and raise tax exemptions to GRD two million. Moreover, they ask that pensions be increased to amount to 80% of their salaries.

The sector to bear the brunt of the strike will be that of mass transportation which is to paralyze today, workers in the country�s ports are also participating in the mobilization. Air traffic controllers and stewards have called off their mobilization, which was to begin today, following the disappearance of the Ukrainian plane. A.F.

[03] US REITERATE SUPPORT FOR TURKEY�S ACCESSION TO THE WEST

Washington, December 18 (MPA)

Meanwhile, Turkey�s Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz has embarked on a four-day visit to the United States, on the aftermath of the snubbing it received from the European Union.

According to the itinerary of his visit, Mr. Yilmaz is to meet with US President Bill Clinton, Vice-President Al Gore, five Secretaries and with the chiefs of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Mgrs. Yilmaz and Gore are to meet on December 19 and will proceed to the signing of an $850 million agreement concerning the purchase of 49 Boeing aircraft.

The Turkish Premier will next meet with President Clinton, who is expected to bring up the issue of human rights, while also setting forth as priority matters both the Cyprus issue and the situation in the Aegean Sea. A.F.

Complete archives of the Macedonian Press Agency bulletins are available on the MPA Home Page at http://www.mpa.gr/ and on the U.S. mirror at http://www.hri.org/MPA/

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