Athens News Agency: News in English, 03-01-19

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

CONTENTS

[01] Tunisia hears Greece's EU presidency priorities

[02] PM expected to meet UN's Iraq inspector Monday

[03] NATO chief says war on Iraq not certain

[04] NATO chief says war on Iraq not certain

[05] Top cleric blasts plan for Turkey's EU entry

[06] Ex-king has right to visit Greece for Olympics, IOC chief says

[07] Communist Party of Greece makes political overture

[08] Greece won't send troops if war declared on Iraq

[09] Weather Forecast: Rainy on Monday

[10] Sebastian Coe to Athens for talks on 2004 Olympics

[11] Athens 2004 Olympics head to meet German chancellor

[12] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

[13] Weather Forecast: Rain, storms on Sunday

[01] Tunisia hears Greece's EU presidency priorities

Deputy Defence Minister Loukas Apostolidis visited Tunisia last week to outline priorities of Greece's six-month presidency of the European Union.

Among the priorities is to make progress in Euro-Mediterranean dialogue, in which Tunisia is a leading player as the first north African country to forge a cooperation agreement with the 15-member bloc, the defence ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

Also on the agenda for the talks with Defence Minister Dali Jazi and Deputy Foreign Minister Saita Chtioui were finding a peaceful solution to the stand-off with Iraq, the statement said.

[02] PM expected to meet UN's Iraq inspector Monday

Prime Minister Costas Simitis is expected to meet the head of the UN arms inspection team to Iraq for talks on Monday.

Visiting Athens, Hans Blix will brief Simitis on the outcome of checks conducted in Iraq.

Greece currently holds the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union.

In addition, Foreign Minister George Papandreou is to begin a tour of the Middle East sometime this week.

[03] NATO chief says war on Iraq not certain

NATO head George Robertson said in an interview released on Sunday that it was not certain whether war would be declared on Iraq.

''It is not a fact that there will be war in Iraq. The Americans and British are transferring troops to the area in case they need to intervene,'' Robertson told the Sunday Kathimerini newspaper.

''We have learnt from the past that Saddam complies when he realises that he is going to have to pay the price,'' Robertson added.

[04] NATO chief says war on Iraq not certain

NATO head George Robertson said in an interview released on Sunday that it was not certain whether war would be declared on Iraq.

''It is not a fact that there will be war in Iraq. The Americans and British are transferring troops to the area in case they need to intervene,'' Robertson told the Sunday Kathimerini newspaper.

''We have learnt from the past that Saddam complies when he realises that he is going to have to pay the price,'' Robertson added.

[05] Top cleric blasts plan for Turkey's EU entry

Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All Greece on Sunday decried a plan for Turkey to join the European Union, doubting whether it could be classed as a European state.

''(Turkey is seeking EU entry) no longer through arms but through bulk of population and through markets that some are coveting in order to reap greater profits,'' Christodoulos claimed from the pulpit.

He also alleged that the Greek public did not want Europe to become fifty percent Moslem.

''The truth of the matter is that Turkey should not become a member of the EU because it has nothing to offer Europe's civilisation, as it has so far contributed nothing,'' the archbishop fumed.

He claimed that allowing Turkey into the bloc would make it difficult to justify barring other countries that might wish to enter, such as Egypt, Israel and Syria.

''There is nothing higher, more noble that the Greek Orthodox, Greek Christian tradition,'' he added.

[06] Ex-king has right to visit Greece for Olympics, IOC chief says

Former king Constantine has the right to return to Greece for the Athens 2004 Olympics under the terms of an agreement signed by the IOC and the government, the sporting body's chief said in an interview released on Sunday.

''The Greek government has signed a contract with the IOC under which members of the IOC will be in Athens in August 2004, and this contract must be adhered to,'' IOC head Jacques Rogge told the Sunday Eleftherotypia newspaper.

Constantine is a member of the IOC, but does not have the right to enter the country using a Greek passport unless he drops his former title and employs a surname.

[07] Communist Party of Greece makes political overture

The Communist Party of Greece on Sunday announced a political overture towards like-minded blue and white-collar workers, entrepreneurs, intellectuals and movements.

Taken on December 14, the party's central committee decision to work with forces beyond the party's membership does not cover other political parties.

Being sought is cooperation with individuals or groups that are striving for a different political schema, oppose war, and wish to forge a radical solution to problems of unemployment, education, health and culture.

The long-term aim of the overture is to build a powerful socio-political alliance that will change current conditions, the party said.

[08] Greece won't send troops if war declared on Iraq

Greece will not send troops if war is declared on Iraq, Defence Minister Yiannos Papantoniou said in an interview published on Sunday.

''In no event will Greece send troops to Iraq. Whatever support is given will take the form of facilities, mainly port facilities, and not some other type of participation,'' Papantoniou told the Sunday Ethnos newspaper.

In addition, any support of military action against Iraq by Greece and the European Union would first require full endorsement from the UN Security Council, he said.

At the same time, protracted action against Iraq would engender risk for the global economy due to a rise in oil prices and the adverse economic climate that would emerge, the minister said.

[09] Weather Forecast: Rainy on Monday

Rain will fall in all parts of the country except for the west, which will remain dry but cloudy. The Dodecanese islands will be stormy, and snowfall is expected on high ground on the mainland. Winds northerly, moderate to strong, turning very strong in parts of the Aegean. In the north, temperatures will range from 0C to 10C; on the rest of the mainland and in the Ionian from 4C to 13C; and in the Aegean islands from 8C to 14C. Temperatures in Athens between 6C and 12C; and in Thessaloniki from 4C to 10C.

[10] Sebastian Coe to Athens for talks on 2004 Olympics

LONDON (ANA/L.Tsirigotakis) - British Olympic champion Sebastian Coe will visit Greece on Monday for talks on the Athens 2004 Games with political and sports officials.

The holder of four Olympic medals - two gold and two silver - in the Moscow and Los Angeles events, Coe will also lecture in Athens on Wednesday on the Olympic ideal versus doping.

On Thursday, he will speak at Thessaloniki university on the preparation of athletes for the Olympics.

The international sportsman is also to receive a briefing on preparations for the Athens event from its national organisers.

Coe, a member of the House of Lords, has an impressive track record in his 18-year career as a middle-distance runner.

At the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games he won the gold medal in the 1,500 metre race and the silver in the 800 metres. Four years later, at Los Angeles, he repeated his successes.

Coe is now a columnist in the Daily Telegraph newspaper and sports commentator on BBC radio.

[11] Athens 2004 Olympics head to meet German chancellor

The head of the national organising committee for the Athens 2004 Olympics, Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, is to visit Berlin on Tuesday for talks on the international event with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

Daskalaki will provide a briefing on preparations for the Olympics following the invitation to Germany from Schroeder.

Last October, she visited Paris to brief French President Jacques Chirac on the Olympics.

[12] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.073

Pound sterling 0.663

Danish kroner 7.493

Swedish kroner 9.248

Japanese yen 123.3

Swiss franc 1.471

Norwegian kroner 7.332

Cyprus pound 0.583

Canadian dollar 1.643

Australian dollar 1.815

[13] Weather Forecast: Rain, storms on Sunday

All parts of the country will see cloud and showers. The west, centre and south will be stormy. Snowfall is expected on high ground on the mainland. Winds variable, moderate to very strong. In the north, temperatures will range from 2C to 10C; on the rest of the mainland and in the Ionian from 6C to 13C; and in the rest of the country from 8C to 14C. Temperatures in Athens between 8C and 13C; and in Thessaloniki from 5C to 10C.

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