Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 98-11-04
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, November 4, 1998
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] PARLIAMENT GRANTS CONFIDENCE VOTE TO GOVERNMENT
[02] GREEK AIR FORCE PLANE EXPLODES, CRASHES THIS MORNING NEAR
ATHENS
[03] CABINET TO CONVENE TODAY OVER THE ECONOMY
[04] PREMIER TO MEET WITH PRESIDENT TODAY
[05] POST OFFICE WORKERS TO STRIKE TOMORROW
[06] ALBANIAN SPORTS MINISTER IN GREECE ON OFFICIAL VISIT
[07] MAIN OPPOSITION PARTY CHALLENGES PASOK TO ELECTIONS
[08] PHILOXENIA '98 STARTS TOMORROW, S.E. EUROPE'S BIGGEST TOURISM
FAIR
[09] THESSALONIKI TO HOST IN/AL MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE "ARISTOTLE"
[10] REPPAS: THE YILMAZ VISIT TO THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES IS
ILLEGAL
[11] REPPAS COMMENTED ON THE NEW GOVERNMENT IN FYROM
[12] TAXATION ON CARS IS BEING REDUCED
[13] GAINS IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
[14] THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTARY SUMMIT OF ORTHODOX COUNTRIES ENDED
IN THESSALONIKI
[15] THE PROGRAMME OF THE 39TH FILM FESTIVAL OF THESSALONIKI
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[16] CLINTON BENEFITS FROM CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS
[17] GREECE TO PROVIDE CYPRUS WITH WATER AS DROUGHT RELIEF MEASURE
[18] A GREEK AMONG IN/AL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL'S NINE ELECTED JUDGES
[19] THOUSANDS OF REFUGEES RETURN TO KOSOVO, UN REPORTS
[20] OTE SHARES THE SECOND MOST TRADED AT NYSE ON OPENING DAY
[21] GREECE HOLDS THE SECOND PLACE IN THE PREFERENCE OF THE
BRITISH TOURISTS
[22] RUGOVA VISITED VILLAGES IN KOSOVO
[23] PRINCE CHARLES WILL VISIT BULGARIA ON FRIDAY
[24] THE ACTIVITIES OF OSAMA BIN LADEN IN ALBANIA WERE REVEALED BY
AN ALBANIAN NEWSPAPER
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] PARLIAMENT GRANTS CONFIDENCE VOTE TO GOVERNMENT
The parliament granted a confidence vote to the government
last night, with 163 deputies voting in favor and 136 voting
against.
After the results were announced, Prime Minster Kostas
Simitis stated that the government enjoys a "clear majority and a
clear order to proceed with its policy."
Moreover, he stated that expelled parliamentarians Moschos
Ginokoglou, Vasilis Kedikoglou and Christos Kipouros will be
reinstated to the party's parliamentary group.
Mr. Simitis sought the confidence vote immediately after the
government reshuffle last Thursday.
[02] GREEK AIR FORCE PLANE EXPLODES, CRASHES THIS MORNING NEAR
ATHENS
A Mirage 2000 aircraft of the Greek air Force exploded in
the air and crashed in the region of Malakasa, approximately 40
kilometers outside of Athens, this morning.
According to reports from the Air Force's General Staff, the
aircraft's control malfunctioned and the pilot, second lieutenant
Parousis, was forced to abandon the plane by using the automatic
ejection system. Despite rescue attempts, he has not been
recovered, according to the same reports.
This marks the fourth air force accident during the course of
this year.
[03] CABINET TO CONVENE TODAY OVER THE ECONOMY
The government's economy and finance officials are to convene
today in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Kostas Simitis in
order to discuss fiscal matters.
The participants are to draw the final touches on the
reduction of indirect taxes on automobiles, as well as the Value
Added Tax on the electricity bills by three percent.
The governor of the National Bank of Greece Lukas Papademos
is to also take part in the meeting, along with the Premier's
economic adviser Tasos Yanitsis.
[04] PREMIER TO MEET WITH PRESIDENT TODAY
Prime Minister Kostas Simitis is to be received by
the President of the Hellenic Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos
today.
The meeting, which was re-scheduled from Monday, is taking
place after the Parliament granted a vote of confidence to the
government last night.
The Premier will brief the President on the course of the
state's internal and foreign policies.
[05] POST OFFICE WORKERS TO STRIKE TOMORROW
Postal workers are to conduct a 24-hour strike tomorrow, in
protest to the postal market-related bill which will be tabled in
Parliament.
The post office employees maintain that the said bill needs
to be improved in order to prevent concessions in the management
agreement terms which, as they say, will essentially impede the
course and development of the Greek postal services.
[06] ALBANIAN SPORTS MINISTER IN GREECE ON OFFICIAL VISIT
Albania's Sports Minister Mr. Tartari met with Greece's
deputy Minister for Sports Andreas Fouras yesterday, during his
official visit to Greece where he is heading an Albanian
delegation which will study the organization of sports events.
Regarding the Euro 2000 qualifying match to be held between
Greek and Albanian teams in Tirana on November 18, Mr. Tatari
assured Mr. Fouras that it would not be marred by any incident.
The Euro 2000 qualifying match between Albania and Greece was
originally scheduled for October 10 but postponed by UEFA on
October 1 due to political unrest in Albania.
Mr. Fouras is scheduled to visit Tirana on November 17 to
sign a protocol of cooperation in the sports sector between the
two countries.
[07] MAIN OPPOSITION PARTY CHALLENGES PASOK TO ELECTIONS
Greece's main opposition party leader, New Democracy's Kostas
Karamanlis, stated that last night's confidence vote in the
Parliament was a "farce" and accused the government of "arrogant
behavior and contempt for the people."
"How can you be proud of your work, after the painful results
of the recent local government elections and the growing public
disaffection?" Mr. Karamanlis asked during his Parliament address.
He called on the Prime Minister to "stop concealing his
personal inadequacy behind the national goal of taking the country
into Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)."
"You cannot receive absolution for the disintegration of the
state, your mistakes and omissions through EMU," he stressed.
[08] PHILOXENIA '98 STARTS TOMORROW, S.E. EUROPE'S BIGGEST TOURISM
FAIR
The Helexpo-founded PHILOXENIA '98, the biggest tourism
exhibition in South-East Europe, is to start in Thessaloniki
tomorrow, November 5, featuring 10,000 sq.m. of exhibition space
and more than 350 exhibitors of the tourism industry from around
the world.
Among the sectors to be represented at the four-day fair are
hotels, apartment and other accommodation forms, transportation,
meeting, conference and incentive travel, tour operators, nature
and adventure trips, data communications and publications.
PHILOXENIA reached its peak last year with 369 exhibitors.
More analytically, 311 of these were from Greece while 58 from
abroad. The exhibitors presented their products to 10,000 visitors
of which 4,000 visitors with trade interest.
This year's event is jointly organized by Thessaloniki's
HELEXPO and Great Britain's REED EXHIBITIONS, a marketing company
which organizes 336 exhibitors worldwide, nine of which are for
the tourism sector .
The collaboration agreement, which is expected to be
finalized by the end of August, is expected to contribute
decisively to the improvement of services offered in the area of
international marketing. The two companies will sign a ten year
agreement commencing in1999.
[09] THESSALONIKI TO HOST IN/AL MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE "ARISTOTLE"
Thessaloniki will host the fifth international management
conference titled "Aristotle", which will be held on November 18-
19.
The event is being organized by the Macedonia section of the
Greek Association of Business Management (EEDE) and will be held
at the "Macedonia Palace" hotel.
[10] REPPAS: THE YILMAZ VISIT TO THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES IS
ILLEGAL
Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas characterized as
illegal the visit of Turkish prime minister Mesut Yilmaz to the
Turkish occupied northern Cyprus, pointing out that this action
undermines the efforts for peace and stability in the region.
Commenting on the statements made by Mr. Yilmaz concerning
the annexation of the occupied territories to Turkey, Mr. Reppas
pointed out that this is not wished not even by the Turkish
Cypriots themselves, who are looking forward to Cyprus's European
prospect.
[11] REPPAS COMMENTED ON THE NEW GOVERNMENT IN FYROM
Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas expressed the
Greek government's joy over the fact that the democratic
institutions in FYROM operate and wished that the new FYROM
government will cooperate with the Greek government for the
benefit of the two countries.
Mr. Reppas called on the FYROM government to show the same
sense of responsibility displayed by the Greek government.
[12] TAXATION ON CARS IS BEING REDUCED
The minister of national economy and finance announced cuts
on the special consumer tax on cars and the VAT included in the
state electricity company bills after the meeting he had with
prime minister Kostas Simitis.
The special consumer tax on cars will be cut by up to 20%,
while the VAT on the state electricity company bills will be
reduced from 18% to 8% which means that the company's bills will
be smaller by 8.7%.
Mr. Papantoniou pointed out that the 1999 budget, which will
be presented in parliament soon, provides for cuts in indirect
taxes which are estimated at 180 billion drachmas.
[13] GAINS IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
Upward trends prevailed in the Athens Stock Exchange session
today. The general price index closed with gains of 1.14%.
Strong upward trends prevail in all the European stock
markets since this morning after yesterday's temporary, as it
appears to be, indecision displayed by investors.
[14] THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTARY SUMMIT OF ORTHODOX COUNTRIES ENDED
IN THESSALONIKI
The two-day meeting of the international secretariat of the
European Parliamentary Summit of Orthodox countries ended in
Thessaloniki.
Milutin Stojkovic, head of the Yugoslav delegation, stressed
the very significant support offered to his country by the
European Parliamentary Summit of the Orthodox countries for the
peaceful solution of the crisis in Kossovo and promised that his
country will make every effort for Orthodoxy to take its place in
the international scene.
In the summit meeting participated delegations from Russia,
Cyprus, Lithuania, Yugoslavia and Greece.
[15] THE PROGRAMME OF THE 39TH FILM FESTIVAL OF THESSALONIKI
The 39th Film Festival of Thessaloniki opens on November 13
with the screening of Goran Paskalijevic's film "The powder-keg of
the Balkans". In this year's festival which has a budget of 460
million drachmas participate 12 films in the international
competition and 19 in the Greek competition, while a large number
of films will be screened within the framework of special
presentations.
In the international competition participate films from the
Czech Republic, Hungary, Iran, the United States, Germany, France,
Tadjikistan, South Korea and Canada.
The Film Festival will end on November 22 with the screening
of "Besieged", the last movie by Italian director Bernardo
Bertolucci, while 36 film productions representing the independent
American cinema will be screened within the framework of the
special presentations.
A special event will be held to honor British film director
Ken Lowds, while French cult film director Jean-Daniel Pollet will
be honored in cooperation with the Turin Film Festival.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[16] CLINTON BENEFITS FROM CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS
The first results of the congressional elections in the
United States are encouraging for US President Bill Clinton as it
appears that the Democratic Party has managed to maintain its
seats in the House.
According to the latest polls, the Democrats are expected to
strengthen their position in the House of Representatives.
[17] GREECE TO PROVIDE CYPRUS WITH WATER AS DROUGHT RELIEF MEASURE
Greece is to supply Cyprus with 15 million cubic meters of
water on an annual basis, as a drought relief measure, according
to an agreement between the two countries.
The chief advisor of Greece's water supply department (EYDAP)
Dionisios Xenos, who met yesterday with Cypriot Agriculture
Minister Kostas Themistocleous in Cyprus, stated that the shipment
of drinking water could start within three months.
"The water will be given as aid to Cyprus," Mr. Xenos said,
adding that the infrastructure for pumping the water onto tankers
was already in place in Greece and would allow for over 40,000
cubic meters of water to be shipped on a daily basis.
Mr. Themistocleous stated that the Greek government's offer
of free drought relief is "significant", but repeated that overall
costs might still be too high.
"It is not the purchase price of the water but rather the
transport cost that counts" he said, adding that "if this cost is
lower than for other methods of securing water - such as
desalination - then we will go ahead with implementation of the
Greek offer, " the Cypriot minister said.
Greek Ambassador to Cyprus, Kyriakos Rodousakis, who also
attended yesterday's meeting, expressed his certainty that Cypriot
shipowners would be willing to help out with the water shipments,
thus reducing costs.
"There are some very powerful Cypriot shipowners, with strong
patriotic sentiments, and I am hopeful they will help out," he
said.
According to Cypriot press reports, Nicosia had considered
importing water in 1991 from Crete but shelved the idea due to
costs. However, the extended drought and subsequent technological
advances have made water shipments an increasingly attractive
proposition. The island's occupied areas are already being
supplied with water from Turkey by balloon.
[18] A GREEK AMONG IN/AL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL'S NINE ELECTED JUDGES
The UN Security Council's General Assembly has elected nine
judges to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Greece's
Dionysios Kondylis among them.
Six of the elected judges will replace those who have served
since 1995 on the two original Trial Chambers of the Tribunal when
their terms expire on 24 May 1999. The other three judges will
serve on a third Trial Chamber, established by the Security
Council in April this year to facilitate the work of the Tribunal.
The terms of all judges elected yesterday will expire on 24
May 2003. While the six elected to the exiting Trial Chambers will
assume their post on 25 May 1999, the other three will start as
soon as possible following the elections so that the new third
Trial Chamber can start to function at the earliest possible date.
The Tribunal, which is based in Arusha, Tanzania, was
established by the Security Council on 8 November 1994 to
prosecute persons accused of genocide or other violations of
international humanitarian law committed in Rwanda or neighboring
territories in during that year.
The election process for Tribunal judges begins with an
invitation by the Secretary-General to Member States and non-
member observers of the United Nations to submit up to two
candidates for the Tribunal within 30 days of his request.
The Secretary-General then forwards the nominations received
to the Security Council, which establishes "short lists" by secret
ballot, taking into account adequate representation of the
principal legal systems of the world.
The list of candidates, which consists of not fewer than 18
names and not more than 27, is then sent to the General Assembly
for final decision. On September 30, the Security Council
established a short list of 18 candidates, which had been
forwarded by the Council President to the President of the General
Assembly.
The remaining eight judges were Navanethem Pillay (South
Africa), Laity Kama (Senegal), Mehmet Goney (Turkey), Pavel
Dolenc (Slovenia), William Sekule (United Republic of Tanzania),
Yakov Ostrovsky (Russia), and Erik Mose (Norway) and Lloyd George
Williams of Jamaica and Saint Kitts and Nevis.
[19] THOUSANDS OF REFUGEES RETURN TO KOSOVO, UN REPORTS
Over the past week, thousands of internally displaced persons
in Kosovo have gone back to their villages, according to the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Kris Janowski, a Spokesman for the agency, said the residents
were going back mainly to see the condition of their houses and
to find out if the police had gone. Some internally displaced
persons had said they would stay for a few days, while others were
repairing homes to bring in families. In some areas, villagers
were preparing to plant the winter crop of wheat.
Only several hundred of the 10,000 internally displaced
persons estimated to be under plastic before the 27 October
military withdrawal, had either returned to their villages or are
in host families. "Of the handful remaining in the open, about 100
are on the hill above Kisna Reka, where earlier the widely
publicized group of 3,500 internally displaced persons were
encamped, 30 kilometers west of Prishtina," said Mr. Janowski.
Since mid-October, UNHCR has doubled the delivery of relief
supplies from three times per week to six. According to the
agency, those supplies were now reaching areas that had been
inaccessible during the conflict. "UNHCR, along with non-
governmental organizations (NGOs), can provide assistance to
approximately 90,000 people a week," Mr. Janowski said.
[20] OTE SHARES THE SECOND MOST TRADED AT NYSE ON OPENING DAY
A New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) official yesterday announced
that 34 million shares of the Hellenic Telecommunications
Organization (OTE) were sold during the initial offering. She
added that yesterday alone, eight million OTE shares changed
hands, ranking it second in trade volume for the day.
The spokeswoman said that the share opened for trading at 11
US dollars and closed at 11.31 dollars.
[21] GREECE HOLDS THE SECOND PLACE IN THE PREFERENCE OF THE
BRITISH TOURISTS
Greece had big gains as a result of the increase in the
number of British tourists traveling abroad, as in the first 9
months of 1998 it was the second most popular tourist destination
for the Britons.
Based on data provided by the British newspaper "The
Independent", in the period of January-September of 1998 there was
an increase of 13% in the British tourism compared to the same
period in 1997.
The number of British tourists, who visited the Greek
islands, increased by 33% while there was also an increase of 19%
in the number of British tourists preferring Cyprus.
[22] RUGOVA VISITED VILLAGES IN KOSOVO
Leader of the ethic Albanians in Kosovo, Ibrahim Rugova
visited villages which were at the front line of the clashes
between ethnic Albanian rebels and Serb security forces.
Mr. Rugova, accompanied by US mediator Christopher Hill, saw
for himself that the refugees return to their homes but he
stressed that further measures should be taken for their
protection.
[23] PRINCE CHARLES WILL VISIT BULGARIA ON FRIDAY
The heir to the British throne Prince Charles will be on a
formal visit to Bulgaria on November 6-8. He will arrive in Sofia
on Friday at noon and he will meet with Bulgarian president Petar
Stoyanov immediately afterwards.
Prince Charles and president Stoyianov will attend a forum of
businessmen that will be held in Sofia and on Saturday the heir to
the British throne will visit the city of Plovdiv.
As it was made known, the prince will be accompanied by 26
journalists from British newspapers, radio and television.
[24] THE ACTIVITIES OF OSAMA BIN LADEN IN ALBANIA WERE REVEALED BY
AN ALBANIAN NEWSPAPER
The newspaper "Gazetta Skiptare" made revelations on the
expansion of the terrorist activities of Islamist Saudi Arabian
multi- millioner Osama Bin Laden to Albania and his links with the
political leadership of the country during the Berisha regime.
According to the Albanian newspaper, Osama Bin Laden visited
Albania in April 1994 as a member of a Saudi Arabian delegation at
the invitation of the then secret service chief Baskim Gazidente
who was also the chairman of the Association of Islamist
Intellectuals in Albania.
During his stay in Tirana, he had talks with many government
ministers and an aid agreement was reached but the assistance
never got to Albania.
According to the newspaper, the Saudi Arabian terrorist
founded the Islamist humanitarian organization "Al Haramen" in
Albania which was financed by him personally and worked as a cover-
up for his terrorist activities. The newspaper maintains that
hundreds of young Albanians were recruited and trained by Bin
Laden's organization to be used in terrorist actions directed by
the Saudi Arabian terrorist.
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