Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 99-12-27

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

CONTENTS

[01] Greece celebrates Christmas in traditional form

[02] Fourteen killed on the roads over Christmas period

[03] Suspected terrorist arrested, jailed for forgery

[04] Vance resigns as U.N. envoy for Greece-FYROM

[05] Turkish general proposes joint military manoeuvres with Greece

[06] Mild quakes shake Crete, Rhodes, Nafpaktos

[07] Olympiakos set to sign Greek-born Roma striker Choutos

[08] Avramopoulos fuels speculation regarding future plans

[09] Truck driver arrested for carrying illegal immigrants

[10] Thessaloniki citizens fall victim of 'Christmas carol singers'

[11] Keranis decides against buyout of FYROM cigarette plant

[12] Tourism between Greece and Turkey on the increase following quakes

[13] Greek, Albanian tourism boards sign agreement

[14] Families in Thrace with third child given bonuses

[15] Greek stocks remain under strong pressure

[16] Bank of Greece announces reduction in its Lombard rate

[01] Greece celebrates Christmas in traditional form

Athens 27/12/1999 (ANA)

On Christmas Eve, President Kostis Stephanopoulos, Prime Minister Costas Simitis and political party leaders were visited by various choirs who sang Christmas carols for them. President Stephanopoulos was visited by the choirs of the Presidential Guard, the Federation of People with Large Families and children from the SOS children's village.

The president was delighted by the economic immigrants' children's choir which sang carols in the Filippino, English and Greek language.

Mr. Simitis was visited by children from the 15th elementary school of Ilio and the 1st from Nea Liosia which were destroyed by the killer earthquake which struck the greater Athens area on September 7. Mr. Simitis promised that they will have a new school soon and offered them refreshments and cakes.

Main opposition New Democracy party leader Costas Karamanlis was visited by children from the SOS children's village, while his wife Natasa gave them gifts.

Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Secretary Aleka Papariga listened to carols by the Youth Action Organisation, while Coalition of the Left and Progress leader Nikos Constantopoulos listened to the choir of the Federation of People with Large Families.

The same choir also visited former prime minister and ND Honourary President Constantine Mitsotakis, as did the Pancretian Union which danced traditional Cretan dances.

Athens Mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos was visited by children's choirs, the Athens Municipality's Philharmonic Orchestra and a children's choir from African countries.

Handicapped children and adults sang Christmas carols at the archdiocese and Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Christodoulos blessed them and gave them symbolic gifts.

Athens News Agency

[02] Fourteen killed on the roads over Christmas period

Athens 27/12/1999 (ANA)

The most tragic accident occurred on the Antirrio-Ioannina motorway at 10.20 a.m. yesterday in which a young couple and their baby were killed.

The accident took place when a car driven by George Kasaras, 30, veered into an oncoming lane and crashed into another car and then burst into flames. Kasaras, his wife Sofia, 27, and their unchristened three-month old baby were killed. The couple's son Dimitris, 3, and the driver of the second car Spyros Lefkimiatis, 53, were seriously injured.

Athens News Agency

[03] Suspected terrorist arrested, jailed for forgery

Athens 27/12/1999 (ANA)

Lesperoglou, 44, a suspected member of the Anti-State Struggle terrorist organisation, was arrested by security police on Thursday evening, shortly after landing at Athens Airport on an Air France flight from Amsterdam via Paris on a forged passport. Police said on Friday Lesperoglou arrived with a passport under the name "Emmanuil Britzolakis, 36, from Iraklion, Crete, and resident of Athens".

He has been on the run since 1982, and wanted for six murders.

Police said the detainee also carried an identity card and electoral booklet in the same assumed name. Police searching his luggage found four seals of the Kypseli police station and the Tax Bureau's Athens branch, as well as other incriminating objects which they did not disclose.

The detainee insisted that he was Britzolakis, but police identified him by his fingerprints, which matched those of Lesperoglou on file.

A police source told ANA that Lesperoglou, who is allegedly a member of the "Anti-State Struggle" terrorist organisation, has three outstanding warrants for his arrest.

The first concerns the attempted killing of police officer George Psaroudakis on April 24, 1982 in the central Athens district of Exarchia, when Lesperoglou and accomplices allegedly tried to break into a lawyer's office, shooting and injuring Psaroudakis.

The second warrant is for the murder of Athens public prosecutor George Theophanopoulos on April 1, 1985 outside the deceased's home in Kallithea by Anti-State Struggle members, the killing of two guards in a May 6, 1985 armed robbery of a van delivering money to the Sklavenitis supermarket in the Athens district of Galatsi, in which the perpetrators got away with 6.5 million dr., and the May 15, 1985 shoot-out with police in Gyzi in which the organisation's suspected founder Christos Tsoutsouvis and three policemen were killed. The third warrant was issued on April 24, 1986 by the Standing Military Court of Ioannina for draft evasion.

Charges were drawn up against Lesperoglou for forgery, and he was arraigned before an investigating magistrate on Friday.

Lesperoglou is believed to be the closest associate of convicted terrorist and Anti-State Struggle member, George Balafas.

In November 1986, police discovered an arms cache in which they found Balafas' fingerprints on the keys of a car allegedly used by the elusive terrorist group "November 17" in three murders, including that of CIA Station Chief Richard Welch in Athens in December 1975.

Police believe that Balafas is also linked with Kyriakos Mazokopos, who has been sentenced to 17 years imprisonment for transporting, possessing and concealing weapons, ammunition and explosives.

Mazokopos was arrested on February 8, 1990 after a homemade bomb exploded in his hands in a rented storehouse in the Athens district of Exarchia, resulting in the loss of his right eye and right hand.

According to a police announcement in November the same year, Balafas' fingerprints were found in the storehouse and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Balafas is also suspected of participating in the February 1990 murder of prison psychiatrist Marios Maratos, bomb attacks against banks and the Sklavenitis heist.

Athens News Agency

[04] Vance resigns as U.N. envoy for Greece-FYROM

UNITED NATIONS 27/12/1999 (Reuters)

Mr. Vance, 82, who resigned for personal reasons, has been succeeded by U.S. diplomat Mathhew Nimetz, 60, who has served as his deputy in the post.

The talks are over the use of the name "Macedonia", which Greece objects to on grounds that it usurps the name of its own northern province of Macedonia.

A 1995 agreement settled other outstanding issues and normalised relations between the two neighbours but the name "the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", or FYROM, continues to be used at the United Nations as an interim measure.

In announcing Mr. Vance's resignation, Secretary-General Kofi Annan called him "a great statesman" and thanked him for his "untiring efforts and invaluable service to the United Nations."

Mr. Vance, who was secretary of state under U.S. President Jimmy Carter, was U.N. peace envoy for Bosnia in the early 1990s.

Mr. Nimetz has been involved in the Greece-FYROM negotiations since 1994 and has chaired the talks since November 1997.

Athens News Agency

[05] Turkish general proposes joint military manoeuvres with Greece

ANKARA 27/12/1999 (ANA-AP)

"We are always ready for friendship and cooperation. I even proposed the holding of joint exercises," the Hurriyet and Milliyet dailies quoted Mr. Kivrikoglu as saying. He did not clarify whether Greece had accepted the proposal.

He said as a goodwill gesture Turkish warplanes had begun flying over the Aegean without ammunition, but without reciprocation from Greece, and that there had been an overall de-escalation of tension.

"There was no response (from Greece) and we abandoned that... There are still occasional small tensions, but they are not important," he was quoted as saying.

Athens News Agency

[06] Mild quakes shake Crete, Rhodes, Nafpaktos

Athens 27/12/1999 (ANA)

The Athens Geodynamic Institute said a tremor, measuring 4.6 on the Richter scale, was recorded at 05:38 local time (03:38 GMT), with an epicentre in the sea region off the island of Rhodes.

The second quake had a magnitude of 4.3 degrees on the Richter scale, occured at 12:58 local time (10:58 GMT) and had its epicentre in the Gulf of Messara, off Crete.

It was particularly felt in the Tymbaki area, where it caused concern among inhabitants due to being accompanied by a hollow roar.

The Institute said the epicentre was close to the surface and there was no serious cause for concern.

On Saturday, two minor earthquakes, measuring 4.4 and 4 degrees on the Richter scale were felt in the Nafpaktos district, 130 km northwest of Athens, at 14:48 and 14:54 local time respectively. Again, there were no reports of damage or injuries.

Athens News Agency

[07] Olympiakos set to sign Greek-born Roma striker Choutos

Athens 27/12/1999 (ANA)

They said 19-year old Choutos had agreed to sign a four-and-a-half year contract for a fee of 1.3 billion drachmas ($4 million).

Olympiakos has already agreed with Roma on a transfer fee of $5 million.

Both player and Greek club vice-president Petros Kokkalis emerged satisfied after a meeting on Friday. "Olympiakos is a great club with a potential of gaining distinctions in Europe," said Choutos. "We'll buy any player the club needs," stated Mr. Kokkalis.

Athens News Agency

[08] Avramopoulos fuels speculation regarding future plans

Athens 27/12/1999 (ANA)

"I am politically autonomous. The question whether I shall be a candidate in the next general elections is untimely," said Avramopoulos, a professional diplomat originating in the main opposition New Democracy party, in a newspaper interview.

He added he would enter a central political platform in any role the people considered best, expressing a wish that elections took place as soon as possible.

Athens News Agency

[09] Truck driver arrested for carrying illegal immigrants

Athens 27/12/1999 (ANA)

Ioannis Dimopoulos, 29, was to receive a fee of 250,000 drachmas to carry the illegals to the city of Thessaloniki.

Bayram Suleyman is also involved in the case and is being sought by police for driving in front of the truck in a car and serving as a lookout for possible police road blocks.

The truck, equipped with forged licence plates, was confiscated, while Dimopoulos was found to be lacking a driver's licence. The illegals will be brought before a public prosecutor.

In another development, the body of an illegal immigrant who died of starvation and cold was found by residents in the northern region of Megalou Dereiou Evrou. According to personal documents found on the body the victim was identified as Parves Raja, 39, from Pakistan.

Police said there were no indications of foul play.

Athens News Agency

[10] Thessaloniki citizens fall victim of 'Christmas carol singers'

Athens 27/12/1999 (ANA)

D.T. and A.K., both boys, told police their robber looked around 14-years of age, and relieved them at knife-point of about 9,000 drachmas as they exited an apartment block in the city's Toumba district.

Apparently the same stalker was unsuccessful in a second attemp in the same area later, when his would-be victims, a 10-year old girl and her eight-year old brother, forced him to flee by crying for help.

In another incident, a 20-year old man in Thessaloniki stole 2,000 drachmas from an elderly woman when he entered her home under the pretext that he would sing Christmas carols.

Athens News Agency

[11] Keranis decides against buyout of FYROM cigarette plant

Athens 27/12/1999 (ANA)

Keranis said that the decision was taken after the Skopjan side reneged on two elements of the deal: the number of workers who would retain their jobs at the plant; and the method of payment for the acquisition.

The acquisition was part of the company's immediate investment plans and part of a broader strategy of expansion in the Balkans.

Funds for the buyout had been raised during a recent share capital increase.

"Keranis' decision not to proceed with the investment was taken with the protection of the company's and shareholders' interests foremost in mind," a company statement said.

The statement said that the initial draft agreement provided for 300 jobs to be maintained, but that the FYROM side had suddenly demanded that all 560 workers keep their jobs and that there would be no right to lay them off for three years.

"This term is unacceptable because, apart from the high cost of production, it effectively means that management is being held 'hostage'," the statement said.

In addition, the statement said, the sellers suddenly changed the terms of the transaction, which was to be paid in instalments, to payment in cash on signing of the contract.

"The company believes that payment in the specific manner would be economically and business-wise unacceptable and unjustifiable, in line with the experiences to date of other privatisations, particularly in environments that are not particularly econo- politically stable, such as FYROM," the statement said.

Keranis said that the amount of five billion drachmas would remain with the company and that shareholders would be called to an extraordinary assembly to determine the best way to invest the amount.

Athens News Agency

[12] Tourism between Greece and Turkey on the increase following quakes

ISTANBUL 27/12/1999 (ANA- Anadolu)

More than 170,000 Greeks have visited Turkey and about 50,000 Turks have visited Greece since the destructive earthquakes in both countries last summer, the Turkish Travel Agents Association (TURSAB) said.

The natural catastrophes, which left thousands of people dead in Turkey in August and 140 in Greece in September, sparked off a wave of reciprocal acts of sympathy and solidarity from ordinary people in both countries. TURSAB vice-president Hulia Asla das said the positive atmosphere that developed after the earthquakes had contributed to the growth of the bilateral tourism trade and that a joint programme was being studied with a view to presenting the Aegean as a "sea of tourism and peace".

Meanwhile, the Greek-Turkish Entrepreneurial Council, a non-governmental organisation, has formed working groups in various sectors in which the two countries have signed cooperation protocols.

The tourism working group are due to meet in February 2000 to discuss progress and prepare their joint proposals to the Council.

Nedred Koruyan, Secretary of Turkey's Association of Investors in Tourism, and a member of the Council, has said the two sides have decided to organise a Greek-Turkish Tourism Week and hold joint cultural events.

Athens News Agency

[13] Greek, Albanian tourism boards sign agreement

Athens 27/12/1999 (ANA)

It further provides for the mutual visits of Greek and Albanian travel journalists, encouragement and assistance of participation in tourist fairs and other tourism-related events in the two countries, exchange of knowhow and the development of infrastr uctures and investment programmes in the tourism sector, and the advancement of training programmes for employees in the tourism sector.

After the signing, Mr. Stephanidis and Mr. Robo said the accord would decisively contribute to the development of Greek-Albanian economic relations and further improvement of the good-neighbourly climate and mutual understanding between the two peoples.

Athens News Agency

[14] Families in Thrace with third child given bonuses

Athens 27/12/1999 (ANA)

The Metropolitan of Xanthi Panteleimon said the Holy Synod has opened an account in Xanthi in which the total amount for the bonuses will be deposited every two months.

"The families which have had a third child in the prefectures of Xanthi, Rodopi and Evros until now amount to 100, while another 50 will have a third child before the end of this month.The relevant lists of beneficiaries and the corresponding registrati on cards with all the information on each family are at the Metropoli in Thrace," he said.

This programme is starting as a pilot programme from Thrace and later, according to the financial capabilities of the Church of Greece, it will be extended to other border regions in the country.

Athens News Agency

[15] Greek stocks remain under strong pressure

Athens 27/12/1999 (ANA)

The index ended 0.26 percent higher at 4,801.76 points, off the day's lows of 4,646 points. Turnover was 300 billion drachmas reflecting block trades worth 133 billion drachmas.

Sector indices ended as follows: Banks (+3.46 pct), Leasing (-7.08 pct), Insurance (+0.37 pct), Investment (-1.64 pct), Construction (-7.47 pct), Industrials (-1.03 pct), Miscellaneous (-3.84 pct) and Holding (-3.23 pct). The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks plunged 7.75 pct to 1,200.46 points, while the FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks rose 2.04 percent to 2,605.75 points.

The FTSE/ASE MID 40 index fell 4.30 percent to 785.64 points.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 236 to 68 with another 16 issues unchanged.

A total of 65 shares ended at the day's 8.0 percent limit down, while another five (Viokarpet, Commercial Bank, Interinvest, Spyrou and Vernicos Yachts) ended at the day's limit up. Microland saw its share price jump 111.73 pct in the first trading day on the market.

Gnomon, Microland and Hellenic Telecoms were the most heavily traded stocks.

National Bank of Greece ended at 23,200 drachmas, Alpha Credit Bank at 24,750, Commercial Bank at 23,380, Titan Cement (common) at 16,850, Hellenic Petroleum at 4,985, Intracom at 12,500, Minoan Lines at 7,250, Panafon at 3,670 and Hellenic Telecoms at 7,150.

Athens News Agency

[16] Bank of Greece announces reduction in its Lombard rate

Athens 27/12/1999 (ANA)

The central bank had cut intervention rates by the same amount on December 15.

The bank said its move on Friday aimed at facilitating commercial banks in any possible liquidity problems they may face in the wake of the millennium bug problem, such as consumers withdrawing large amounts of cash for fear of possible malfunctions in their accounts.

It said that the reduction also aimed at minimising the fluctuations in short-term rates on the interbank market.

The Lombard rate cut is not expected to have immediate affect on money market conditions, as the interbank market at the moment has a surplus of liquidity. However, the surprise move may have a positive effect on trading at the stock exchange which traditionally sees interest rate cuts as a boost to stock trade.

Athens News Agency

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