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The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 99-09-23
From: The Hellenic Radio (ERA) <ert.ntua.gr/>
CONTENTS
[01] LEGAL ACTION TO APPORTION BLAME FOR COLLAPSED BUILDINGS
[02] MORE MEASURES TO HOUSE THE HOMELESS
[03] NEW DEMOCRACY CALLS FOR BRIEFING BY PRIME MINISTER
[04] GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER ADDRESSES UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
[05] GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS UN SECRETARY GENERAL
[06] AMERICAN SECRETARY OF STATE MEETS CYPRIOT PRESIDENT
[07] EUROSTAT SAYS GREECE CLOSER TO CONVERGENCE WITH EU
[08] MORE FIREMEN TO BE HIRED SOON
[01] LEGAL ACTION TO APPORTION BLAME FOR COLLAPSED BUILDINGS
The Athens prosecutor's office has started legal action against all
persons responsible for the collapse of buildings in which scores of
people lost their lives or were injured during the September 7th
earthquake. The charges will be manslaughter and grave bodily harm.
[02] MORE MEASURES TO HOUSE THE HOMELESS
After a meeting under the chairmanship of prime minister Kostas Simitis
yesterday, with the participation of four prefects of Attica, the
ministers of the environment and the interior stated that the state and
local administration will cooperate to face the consequences of the
recent earthquake and gave assurances that the timetable for housing
the earthquake-stricken population living in tents will be respected.
According to interior minister Vasso Papandreou, priority is to be
given to the improvement of the living conditions in organized camps.
It is estimated that the homeless will start gradually moving to
prefabricated housing in October, while a special telephone service
with information for the quake-stricken population will start operating
as of Monday.
[03] NEW DEMOCRACY CALLS FOR BRIEFING BY PRIME MINISTER
The New Democracy party has underlined the omissions and delays in the
government's handling of problems facing the homeless and called for a
briefing session of political leaders by the prime minister at a
special session of parliament.
[04] GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER ADDRESSES UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Addressing the UN General Assembly early this morning, Greek foreign
minister Giorgos Papandreou referred to the Cyprus issue saying that
the earthquakes in Greece and Turkey were the cause of spontaneous acts
of solidarity between the citizens of the two countries, who pressured
their governments to speed up the procedure for an improvement of the
two countries' relations. He also expressed the hope the impasse in the
Cyprus issue would be lifted. Greece, Mr Papandreou said, supports
globalization concerning ideas, the economy and human rights, which
however must be applied with the same criteria in Cyprus as in other
regions of the globe where the international community is intervening.
In an interview with the Turkish press, Mr Papandreou announced the
creation of a joint unit to deal with natural disasters. He also said
Greek-Turkish rapprochement had started even before the earthquakes,
with quiet diplomacy.
[05] GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS UN SECRETARY GENERAL
Shortly before addressing the UN general assembly, Mr Papandreou had a
lengthy conversation on the Cyprus issue with UN secretary general Kofi
Annan. He said afterwards the Cyprus issue was going through an
important phase and that Mr Annan might soon send an invitation to both
sides to resume dialogue. He also said he discussed with Mr Annan the
latest developments in Greek-Turkish relations.
[06] AMERICAN SECRETARY OF STATE MEETS CYPRIOT PRESIDENT
During a meeting in New York yesterday, American secretary of state
Madeleine Albright gave assurances to Cypriot president Glafkos
Kliridis that Turkish Cypriot representative Rauf Denktash would
respond positively to an invitation from UN secretary general Kofi
Annan for the Cyprus talks to be resumed in mid-October, with no
preconditions, but on an equal basis. The first round of the talks
would last 3 weeks, to be followed by visits to Greece and Turkey by
American president Bill Clinton. A second round of talks would be
convened before the Helsinki summit. The American president would make
the necessary interventions towards the interested parties during his
visits to Greece and Turkey in accordance with the progress of the
talks. Meanwhile the American ambassador in Nicosia has expressed
reserved optimism about the resumption of the Cyprus talks next month,
although he did mention existing differences.
[07] EUROSTAT SAYS GREECE CLOSER TO CONVERGENCE WITH EU
The organisation Eurostat has released figures showing that Greece is
one step closer to convergence with the EU after the inflation rate
went down from 1.8% in July to 1.6% in August. In the euro zone,
inflation stood at 1.2% in August as compared with 1.1% in July.
According to Eurostat, the inflation rate in Greece was lower in the
month of August than inflation in Portugal, Spain, Ireland and Holland,
and the same as in Italy.
[08] MORE FIREMEN TO BE HIRED SOON
Public order minister Mihalis Chrisohoidis has said that the government
plans to hire 2,350 new firemen and buy 9 fire-fighting helicopters. He
also said that a bonus of 140,000 drachmas will be given to the 2,000
firemen who took part in efforts to rescue people trapped under the
rubble in the recent earthquake.
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