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Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2000-08-28
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, August 28, 2000
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] "CULTURE: STARTING POINT OF BALKAN COOPERATION"
[02] 7 GREEKS NABBED IN VENEZUELA'S HUGE DRUG BUST
[03] CYPRIOT FM IN ATHENS TOMORROW FOR TALKS
[04] GREEK PARLIAMENT SPEAKER IN N.Y. FOR UN SUMMIT
[05] 400,000 ACRES OF FOREST LAND TURN TO ASHES
[06] MAIN OPPOSITION LEADER IN WARSAW
[07] VETERAN SPRINTERS IN THESSALONIKI'S OLYMPICS TRIAL
[08] STATE SPOKESMAN: ALL FIRES ARE NOW UNDER CONTROL
[09] A US NUCLEAR-POWERED SUBMARINE IS IN CRETE
[10] THE SEARCH CONTINUES IN THE SEA REGION OF KOS FOR THE RESCUE
OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
[11] THE 7 GREEKS INVOLVED IN THE INTERNATIONAL COCAINE RING WILL
APPEAR BEFORE THE PROSECUTOR TOMORROW
[12] TARMAC AMERICA INC BUYOUT BY TITAN LTD
[13] THE GREEK MINISTER OF PUBLIC ORDER WILL BE IN THE US ON
SEPTEMBER 7-8
[14] THE SEARCH FOR A MISSING DANISH TOURIST CONTINUES IN ELOUNDA,
CRETE
[15] THE "PRESPES 2000" EVENTS WERE A BIG SUCCESS
[16] LOSSES OF 1.98% IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
[17] MEETING UNDER THE PUBLIC ORDER MINISTER IN THE REGIONS
DESTROYED BY THE FIRE IN IOANNINA
[18] REPPAS: DENKTASH DOES EVERYTHING HE CAN TO AFFECT THE CYPRUS
TALKS NEGATIVELY
[19] INTERNATIONAL FAIR OFFERS CULTURAL EVENTS
[20] GREEK POLITICAL LEADERS LINE UP VISITS TO US
[21] BULGARIAN-GREEK AGREEMENT SIGNED IN RODOPI
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[22] UN HOPES FOR THE RESTORATION OF THE STATUS QUO IN STROVILIA,
CYPRUS
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] "CULTURE: STARTING POINT OF BALKAN COOPERATION"
Inaugurating the Prespes 2000 festival at the island of Agios
Achileios yesterday, Macedonia and Thrace Minister George
Paschalidis stated that culture is the common starting point of
inter-Balkan cooperation, while he also stressed that his ministry
supports all the initiatives that support the mutual vision of
viable peace and democracy in the Balkan region.
Moreover, the Macedonia-Thrace Minister stated that the
reconstruction of the Balkans "is primarily a contribution and
then an opportunity, primarily solidarity and then politics."
Referring to the fires that have savaged Greece and other
Balkan countries this summer. Mr. Paschalides also stressed the
need to strengthen the supra-national and international character
of dealing with these problems.
"The Balkans are Europe. The future of Europe begins from
peace in the Balkans, peace emanates from culture, culture meets
and reconciles with politics here at Prespes," he
characteristically stated.
Within the framework of the Prespes 2000 festival, a
memorandum calling for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games flame passage
through the neighboring Balkan countries was signed yesterday by
the Ministers of Culture and Athletics of Albania, Bulgaria,
Cyprus, FYROM and Greece.
Culture Minister and Deputy Sports Minister Theodoros
Pangalos and Giorgos Floridis, respectively, held separate
meetings with their counterparts from Balkan states, while, later
in the day, Mr. Pangalos inaugurated the "Prespa Library" at Agios
Germanos.
Mr. Pangalos stated that this marks a significant moment for
the region's peoples, those who fervently wish for peace and
cooperation. He further stated that the memorandum for the Olympic
flame represents this very spirit.
Moreover, the Balkan Culture ministers agreed to meet one
year from now, very likely in northern Greece.
The "Prespes" festival featured concerts by Socratis Malamas,
Dimitris Mitropanos, Maria Farantouri, Elli Paspalia, Savina
Giannatou, the Florina-born tenor Sotos Papoulkas and gypsy Ferush
Mustamov, and a Bulgarian poetry night held tonight.
[02] 7 GREEKS NABBED IN VENEZUELA'S HUGE DRUG BUST
Seven Greeks, among them shipowners and businessmen, have
been arrested in connection with a Venezuelan drug bust, the
largest in the South American nation's history, all of whom will
appear before an Athens prosecutor today.
The Greeks have been identified as shipowner Philippos
Makris, 42, businessmen Ioannis Lemos, 52, and Angelos Kanakis,
52, shipping agents Theodoros Fatsis and Nikos Mavridoglou, 54,
and merchant marine captain Constantine Athanasios. Shipowner
Ilias Lemos, 53, was arrested and detained in France.
Six of the Greek suspects were employees or associates of the
Kalisti Maritime shipping company based in the port of Piraeus.
The eight-months-long international operation, which resulted
in the seizing of a record ten tons of cocaine, resulted in 16
arrests in Venezuela, France, Italy and Greece.
The operation began as separate investigations by the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration office in Athens, Greece, the
Customs office in Houston and other agencies. The investigations
were eventually united and coordinated by the U.S. Justice
Department.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration helped finance the
raids, and Colombia, France, Britain, Italy, Greece and Panama
also collaborated.
[03] CYPRIOT FM IN ATHENS TOMORROW FOR TALKS
The Foreign Ministers of Greece and Cyprus, George Papandreou
and Ioannis Kasoulides respectively, will meet in Athens tomorrow,
August 29, in order to coordinate efforts so that the UN-led talks
for a settlement in Cyprus will go into the substance of the
problem.
During the meeting, the two ministers will also discuss
issues relating to Turkey's European Union accession partnership,
expected to be decided in November, as well as relations between
Greece and Turkey.
According to the Cyprus News Agency, Mr. Kasoulides stated
that "the meeting in Athens aims at coordinating our actions on
various levels in order to achieve our main aim which is for the
Cyprus talks to become substantive".
[04] GREEK PARLIAMENT SPEAKER IN N.Y. FOR UN SUMMIT
The Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament Apostolos Kaklamanis
will depart for New York today in order to attend the first world
summit of Parliament presidents, which will be held in New York
from August 30 through September 1.
The summit will be themed as the Parliamentary Vision for
World-Wide Cooperation at the Dawn of the Third Millennium.
UN Secretary General Koffi Annan and various Parliament
presidents will address the worldwide conference, which is held
under the auspices of the Inter-Parliamentary Association.
In his address, Mr. Kaklamanis is expected to refer to issues
pertaining to world peace, security, democracy and respect for
human rights.
This is the first time a conference for parliamentary
presidents has been held on a global level.
[05] 400,000 ACRES OF FOREST LAND TURN TO ASHES
Most of the major fires that have ravaged 400,000 acres of
forested and cultivated land throughout Greece this summer, are
presently under control, as strong winds have abated and
temperatures have dropped.
As the whole of the country's fire-fighting force battled day
and night to contain the blazes that claimed seven lives, Greece
issued an international appeal for help and, according to reports,
Israel agreed to send a fire-fighting team. Neighboring countries
are battling major fires of their own and could not send help.
Officials have repeatedly voiced suspicion that many of the
fires are the work of arsonists and this year 31 people have been
arrested on suspicion of starting fires.
[06] MAIN OPPOSITION LEADER IN WARSAW
The leader of the main opposition party of New Democracy
Costas Karamanlis is presently on an official, two-day visit to
Warsaw, where he will participate in the European People's Party
conference and the festivities in honor of the twentieth
anniversary of "Solidarity".
Mr. Karamanlis will be accompanied by his party's newly-
appointed spokesperson Thodoris Rousopoulos and international
relations secretary Yiannis Valinakis.
[07] VETERAN SPRINTERS IN THESSALONIKI'S OLYMPICS TRIAL
Veteran sprinters from around the world are to gather in
Thessaloniki on Wednesday, to participate in a race held in honor
of Balkan champion Grigoris Labrakis.
Among those to take place in the trial runs are Jamaica's
Merlene Ottey, 100-meter race, Niurka Modalvo in women's long-
jump, Kasparova and Marinova in triple jump, Donovan Bailey and
Bruni Sourin in the 100-meter run.
Greece will be represented, among others, by Niki Xanthou in
long-jump and Olga Vasdeki in triple jump.
[08] STATE SPOKESMAN: ALL FIRES ARE NOW UNDER CONTROL
The fires that devastated massive expanses of Greece's
forested land have been contained government spokesperson Dimitris
Reppas said, albeit adding that all land and air fire-fighting
forces continue to be in a state of alert, as there risk of some
of the fires may be rekindled from adverse weather conditions,
especially in the Peloponnese and central Greece.
Mr. Reppas also thanked Israel for having responded to
Greece's call for help by sending two fire-fighting helicopters.
Countering criticism that the state was slow to act in
battling the blazes, Mr. Reppas said that the country's fire-
fighting forces were present from the on-start of the blazes, but
were battling with a volatile combination of hot weather and
strong winds.
Lastly, the government spokesperson stressed that the state
is looking into reports of Albanian gang involvement in fires at
the Greek-Albanian borders.
[09] A US NUCLEAR-POWERED SUBMARINE IS IN CRETE
The US nuclear-powered submarine "Albany" arrived last
Thursday afternoon at the installations of the US base in Marathi,
Chania in the island of Crete in southern Greece.
According to information, the FAST ATTACK type submarine has
a 135member crew. Based on the a report on the local daily
"Chaniotika Nea", the reason for its arrival is the recreation of
its crew. The US submarine will be in Chania for a few days and
the date of its departure is not known.
[10] THE SEARCH CONTINUES IN THE SEA REGION OF KOS FOR THE RESCUE
OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
Hopes fade away for the rescue of more illegal immigrants who
ended up in the sea when their slave-trading ship, that sailed
from Alikarnasos at the Turkish coasts with destination the Greek
coasts, overturned at the sea region of the south-eastern Aegean
island of Kos.
The Coast Guard continues the search for survivors. Six
foreigners have been rescued while 6 bodies have been pick up from
the sea. On board the small boat were 32 people from Iraq, Iran
and Afghanistan.
[11] THE 7 GREEKS INVOLVED IN THE INTERNATIONAL COCAINE RING WILL
APPEAR BEFORE THE PROSECUTOR TOMORROW
The seven Greek businessmen, who were members of an
international drug-trafficking ring, will appear before the
prosecutor tomorrow.
The huge police operation lasted 2 years and in it
participated drug enforcement agencies from 12 countries. A total
of 45 people have been arrested while the value of the five ships
and the drugs confiscated is estimated at US$ 1 billion.
According to information, a Greek police officer, who served
at the Athens airport passport department, was also involved in
the drug-trafficking ring.
[12] TARMAC AMERICA INC BUYOUT BY TITAN LTD
The Greek cement industry TITAN Ltd. will buyout the
construction materials company TARMAC AMERICA Inc., an Anglo
American subsidiary, for the sum of US$ 636 million, the estimated
working capital included.
The buyout contract has already been signed, while the whole
procedure is expected to be completed in the next two months after
the responsible US federal authorities give their necessary
approval.
In addition, TITAN Ltd. has reached a deal to sell TARMAC's
mining activities and their working capital to the US Vulcan
Materials company for the sum of US$ 227 million.
The funding of TARMAC's buyout by the Bank of America, the
National Bank of Greece and Alpha Bank has been secured.
[13] THE GREEK MINISTER OF PUBLIC ORDER WILL BE IN THE US ON
SEPTEMBER 7-8
Greek minister of public order Michalis Chrisochoidis will
visit the United States on September 7 and 8, announced government
spokesman Dimitris Reppas.
During his stay in the United States, Mr. Chrisochoidis will
sign a memorandum of better police cooperation with the US justice
minister. Mr. Reppas clarified that this memorandum does not
constitute a state agreement and for this reason it does not have
to be approved by the parliament.
[14] THE SEARCH FOR A MISSING DANISH TOURIST CONTINUES IN ELOUNDA,
CRETE
The search for a 56yearold tourist from Denmark, who
disappeared at the Kolokitha island region last Thursday at noon,
continues without results in Crete southern Greece.
Carl Andersen, who suffers from epilepsy, went to the region
from Kanaliou Beach in Elounda, Crete.
[15] THE "PRESPES 2000" EVENTS WERE A BIG SUCCESS
This year's "Prespes 2000" cultural events, that were held in
the presence of significant political personalities from Greece
and the rest Balkan countries, were very successful. The events
will be completed today with a Bulgarian poetry night and a music
concert.
The strengthening of cooperation on issues of security in
the specific region and in all border regions in general, the
migration for economic reasons and the movement of people and
goods were discussed in the meeting minister of interior Vaso
Papandreou had with her counterparts from Albania and FYROM.
Ms. Papandreou characterized the meeting as constructive and
stressed the need to hold such meetings on an annual basis and
with a specific agenda. On the issue of the legalization of the
Albanians in Greece, the minister stated that a draft bill on
immigration has been submitted in parliament and it is expected to
be voted through soon.
An agreement on the inter-border route that will be followed
by the Olympic Flame in 2004 was also reached in the meeting of
culture minister Theodoros Pangalos and undersecretary Giorgos
Floridis with their counterparts from Cyprus, Albania, FYROM and
Bulgaria.
There was also a significant economic meeting of
undersecretary of national economy Yiannis Zafiropoulos with his
counterparts from Albania and FYROM. They discussed the
preconditions and procedures based on which the Greek plan for the
reconstruction of the Balkans will begin to materialize. It was
also decided that Albania and FYROM will have until September 20
to submit their proposals to the Greek ministry of national
economy on the projects and activities they want to be included in
the Greek plan for the reconstruction of the Balkans.
[16] LOSSES OF 1.98% IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
Big losses of 1.98% were recorded in the Athens Stock
Exchange today, the first day of the trading week. The general
index dropped to 3.558,99 points while the volume of transactions
was at 44.6 billion drachmas.
Of the stocks trading today only 37 recorded gains, while 312
had losses and 21 remained stable.
[17] MEETING UNDER THE PUBLIC ORDER MINISTER IN THE REGIONS
DESTROYED BY THE FIRE IN IOANNINA
Minister of public order Michalis Chrisochoidis visited the
village of Kastani in Ioannina, north-western Greece where he had
a meeting with undersecretary of agriculture Evangelos Argiris,
Fire Department chief Panagiotis Fourlas and local authorities.
The next moves of the fire-fighting forces were discussed in
the meeting, while the problem of the fires that approach Greece
from the Albanian side of the borders was also examined.
It should be noted that Greek fire-fighting aircraft and
helicopters participate in the efforts to put those fires under
control and stop their course toward the Greek borders.
[18] REPPAS: DENKTASH DOES EVERYTHING HE CAN TO AFFECT THE CYPRUS
TALKS NEGATIVELY
Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash does everything he can
to affect the Cyprus talks in a negative way, commented Greek
government spokesman Dimitris Reppas.
Mr. Reppas also expressed the Greek government's regret
because the issue has not been dealt with by the United Nations
and expressed the hope that the international organization will
undertake the necessary initiatives.
[19] INTERNATIONAL FAIR OFFERS CULTURAL EVENTS
The countdown to the 65th International Fair of Thessaloniki
has begun and the second capital of Greece is preparing for the
diverse cultural events being organised during the Fair.
These events are due to begin on Sunday September 3rd, with a
recital by Greek singer Alkistis Protopsalti at the Palais Des
Sports.
The 9th DJ Mixing Worldwide Championship will take place on
Tuesday September 5th, and a joint concert by Greek singer Niko
Papakosta and Italian singer Franco Simone will take place on the
following evening, accompanied by violinist Nicholas Chatzopoulos.
Finally, Maria Farandouris will give a performance on Sunday
September 10th.
[20] GREEK POLITICAL LEADERS LINE UP VISITS TO US
Greek political leaders have lined up several important
meetings in the United States, the most important of these being
the participation of Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis at the
dinner being held by Bill Clinton and the meeting planned between
Greek Foreign minister George Papandreou and Ismail Cem, his
Turkish counterpart, on Greek-Turkish relations.
Mr Simitis will arrive in New York on September 5th to take
part in the UN ceremony being held for the Millennium, accompanied
by Greek government representative Dimitris Reppas and other close
associates, such as the manager of his diplomatic office, D.
Sotiropoulos and the head of press Dimitris Pandayias, amongst
others.
During his visit to the US, the Greek Prime Minister will
have meetings with leaders of other countries such as Albania,
FYROM etc and will most likely hold a meeting with President
Clirides, as the fourth round of talks for the Cyprus issue is due
to begin in New York on September 11th.
George Papandreou will meet with his Turkish counterpart,
Ismail Cem and hopes to meet with his counterparts from other
countries, such as Madeleine Albright, of the US. The talks with
Mr Cem are expected to play an important role in Turkey's route to
the European Union. Mr Papandreou will also talk at the UN General
Assembly.
Greek Civil Order minister, Michalis Chrysochoides will also
visit the US on September 7th, to sign a memorandum for the fight
against terrorism between the two countries. Janet Reno, minister
of Justice, will sign the memorandum on behalf of the US. Mr
Chrysochoides will also meet with the head of the CIA, FBI and
other executives to discuss the issue of terrorism.
Finally, Apostolos Kaklamanis, President of the Greek
Parliament, arrived in the US today to take part in the Worldwide
Inter-Parliamentary Conference, organised by the UN. Mr Kaklamanis
will face the President of the Cypriot Parliament, Spyros
Kyprianou, for the first time.
[21] BULGARIAN-GREEK AGREEMENT SIGNED IN RODOPI
An agreement was signed today between the Bulgarian Union of
the Rodopi municipality and the Greek Union of the neighbouring
"Delta-Rodopi" area, in Smolian, northern Bulgaria, by the
Presidents of both Unions, Dantso Kyriakov and Konstantino Tatsi.
One of the main aims of the agreement is the realisation of
joint projects relating to border cooperation between the two
countries.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[22] UN HOPES FOR THE RESTORATION OF THE STATUS QUO IN STROVILIA,
CYPRUS
The Turkish side continues to ignore the representations made
by the UN peace-keeping force in Cyprus calling for the lifting of
the restrictions imposed on the movement of the UN force by the
Turkish Cypriot occupation regime in the northern part of the
island.
From their side, the United Nations still hope that the
return to the previous situation will be allowed. Referring to the
issue that arose with the change in the status quo in Strovilia,
the UN confirms the facts seeking to reach conclusions, stated UN
secretary general deputy special representative in Cyprus Zbigniu
Vlosovic after the meeting he had with Cypriot president Glafkos
Clerides.
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