Athens News Agency: News in English, 00-04-02

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

CONTENTS

[01] EU-OAU-Summit

[02] Sports roundup

[03] Germany-Greece-Rau

[04] Karamanlis tour-Samos-Ikaria

[05] Simitis-Interview-ELEFTHEROTYPIA

[06] Weather Forecast-Monday

[01] EU-OAU-Summit

The first Africa-Europe two-day summit under the auspices of the European Union and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) will get underway in Cairo, Egypt, on Monday to examine issues of African regional unification and integration to the global economy, as well as human rights and democratic institutions.

The summit will be attended by Alternate Foreign Minister Christos Rokofyllos.

The summit will also focus on development issues, including poverty in Africa, investments in human resources, education, health and the environment.

Heads of state, prime ministers and foreign ministers from the EU and the OAU, as well as European Commission President Romano Prodi, will also attend.

[02] Sports roundup

Soccer

Panathinaikos Athens thrashed Ionikos Piraeus 5-0 on Sunday and retained its hopes of winning Greece's first division soccer championship, while AEK Athens beat OFI Crete 2-1 away on Saturday and remained in fourth place.

In other matches played on Sunday, Panionios defeated Kalamata 2-0, Iraklis Thessaloniki subdued Paniliakos 3-1, Proodeftiki beat struggling Apollon Athens 2-0, Panachaiki overcame Kavala 3-2, Xanthi tamed Trikala 3-0 and PAOK Thessaloniki edged crosstown rivals Aris Thessaloniki 3-2. Ethnikos Asteras and championship contender Olympiakos Piraeus will play on Monday.

Standings after 26 games played: Olympiakos Piraeus (25 games) 67 points, Panathinaikos 67, OFI Crete 50, AEK Athens 44, Aris Thessaloniki 40, Panionios 40, Iraklis Thessaloniki 40, Xanthi 38 and PAOK Thessaloniki 38.

[03] Germany-Greece-Rau

BERLIN (ANA - P. Stangos) - German President Johannes Rau will start an official three-day visit to Greece on Monday, at the invitation of his Greek counterpart Kostis Stephanopoulos to further strengthen relations between Germany and Greece.

Rau will hold talks with President Stephanopoulos, Prime Minister Costas Simitis, Parliament President Apostolos Kaklamanis and other politicians, while he will also be visiting Thessaloniki, northern Greece, on Wednesday.

Both presidents will be visiting the town of Kalavryta, in the Peloponnese, on Tuesday and will lay a wreath at the monument of those who were killed by German occupation forces on December 13, 1943 during World War Two.

[04] Karamanlis tour-Samos-Ikaria

With just one week to go before the April 9 general elections, main opposition leader Costas Karamanlis continued his election campaign on Sunday morning and afternoon with a tour of the islands of Samos and Ikaria in the eastern Aegean, where he reiterated that his party represented "the calm force of the middle" political spectrum and "the genuine expression of liberalism and social solidarity."

He accused the PASOK government of "fanaticism and arrogance", of distorting his party's policies and image, and attempting to create artificial tension.

[05] Simitis-Interview-ELEFTHEROTYPIA

In an interview with the Sunday edition of the "Eleftherotypia" newspaper, ruling PASOK leader and Prime Minister Costas Simitis said that his aim was for his party to achieve as great a margin as possible from the main opposition New Democracy (ND) party in the April 9 general elections so as to have a strong majority in parliament and go ahead with reforms and modernisation plans.

The prime minister said he does not share the view that a drop in the Athens Stock Exchange could bring about defeat for PASOK. He stressed that "on April 9 the Greeks will punish all those who are pleased when the general index falls and are disappointed when it rises. The New Democracy's political opportunism at the Stock Exchange has an April 9 expiry date."

[06] Weather Forecast-Monday

Partly cloudy weather with scattered showers is forecast in most parts of the country on Monday.

Temperatures will be high for this time of the year.

Winds will be southerly, moderate to strong.

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