"It is very positive, as a first step, that a they have decided to continue a procedure in a UN framework, with the delegate of Secretary General Kofi Annan present and always in the frameworks of the decisions and resolutions of the UN", he underlined.

Also, he pointed out that the government has every confidence in the way President Kliridis will handle things.

The Ambassador explained that they were neither targeting the leader of the Palestinians, Yasser Arafat, nor Palestinian civilians, but are aiming at sending a harsh message to the factors of Palestinian Authority organizations cooperating with terrorist

organization or show tolerance for them".

Mr. Sasson supports that "Mr. Arafat is lying to all the free world concerning fighting terrorism, but people can now see through his illusion, and added that great Western countries such as the US and Britain have made it clear that he must choose a sid e and fight these terrorist groups "which organize themselves and flourish on Palestinian soil".

Ending, he stressed that "Yasser Arafateither cannot or does not want to control the actions of extreme Palestinian organizations. In any case, however, as President of the Palestinians, and someone who wants to become a state leader one day, and to be c onsidered trustworthy by Israel and the global community, the responsibility falls on his shoulders", and warned that "if he cannot control the extremist organizations and the members of his own movement (Fatah, Tanzim, Force 17) which cooperate with tem in their attacks against innocent Israeli citizens, we will unfortunately be forced to".

The illegal immigrants were on the "Wael IV" freighter, sailing under a Syrian flag, which was spotted run aground on a rocky coast southwest off the shore of Crete. The 11 crew members of Syrian decent were arrested and will be taken to the District Att orney today.

In the meanwhile, the Greek government is expected to take stricter measures as far as illegal immigration is concerned, and it will raise the issue at the European Union Session on December 13 and 14.

Parking and stopping will not be aloud on some main roads of the capital, while traffic from the airport to the Presidential Mansion will gradually stop.

Also, there will be adjustments to the mass transit system routes.

A greeting speech will be addressed by the President of the "Athens 2004" Organizational Committee, Gianna Aggerlopoulou.

Mr. Putin will reach the "Eleftherios Venizelos" airport at 12:45pm. At 1:30pm he will be accepted by President of the Republic Kostis Stefanopoulos, and at 3pm bilateral agreements will be signed. In total, 6 agreements concerning shipping, air transpor ts, police cooperation, justice, power and the instituting of cultural centers will be signed. At 4:40pm he will meet with the President of the Parliament, Nikos Kaklamanis, who will award him the Golden Medal of the Greek Parliament.

Consequently, he will meet with Archbishop Christodoulos, while at 7:30pm with the leader of the Opposition, Kostas Karamanlis. Today's schedule ends with an official dinner the President of the Greek Republic will hold in his honor.

Tomorrow at 9am, Vladimir Putin will tour the archeological site of the Acropolis, while at 11:30am he will meet with Prime Minister Kostas Simitis in the Maximos Mansion.

At 3:45pm he will meet with the Mayor of Athens, Dimitris Avramopoulos, and will receive the Golden Key to the City. At 5:10pm the Russian President will have a brief meeting with the dean of Athens University, Giorgos Babiniotis. Later in the evening (7 pm) a meeting has been scheduled with Greek businessmen.

On Saturday, Mr. Putin, escorted by his Greek counterpart, Kostis Stefanopoulos, will arrive in Thessaloniki at 12:15pm. In the VIP lounge of the "Macedonia" airport, they will be welcomed by the Minister of Macedonia-Thrace, Giorgos Paschalidis, and the n they will leave for Mount Athos by helicopter.

Mr. Putin will visit the Karyes and the cloister of St. Andreas at 1:20pm, and he will have lunch at the monastery of St. Panteleimonas.

At 5pm he will return to Thessaloniki and an hour later he will visit the church of St. Dimitrios. On Sunday, at 8:25

Tomorrow, another 70 illegal immigrants are expected to return to Turkey, as they asked. As for the rest, it is as of yet unknown how long they will stay on Zacynthos.

The 714 illegal immigrants (496 men, 93 women and 125 children) were spotted a month ago on a rudderless ship, the "Brelner", under bad weather conditions. The residents and bodies of the island came to their aid immediately, offering food, blankets and clothing.

Specifically, during June, July and August, 2,315 foreigners arrived, and there were 9,738 overnight stays in hotels. Also, 17,035 Greeks arrived, and there were 53,585 overnight stays.

During the same period, the prefecture of Thrace received 1,801 foreigners and had 4,826 overnight stays, and 16,577 Greek arrivals and 28,066 overnight stays. The prefecture of Evros welcomed 6,538 foreigners who and there were 15,281 overnight stays, w hile at the same time, 56,188 Greeks arrived and noted 148,084 overnight stays.

The total increase is more than 50% in the prefectures of Thrace, the main being that of Rodopi, with a raise in tourism that surpasses 60%.

According to the Direction of Tourism this increase is due to three main reasons: The upgrading of provided services, the renovations of hotels and the financially approachable deals the businessmen of the sector provided. The foreign tourists that prefe r Thrace mainly came from Germany, Holland, England, Italy, the US, Turkey and many countries from the former Eastern Bloc.

Mr. Putin, who is on a three-day visit to Greece, stated that the Russian businesses are ready to participate in the liberalization of the energy market in Greece, while on the 2004 Olympic Games he pointed out that Russia watches closely the preparation s made and is ready to offer its assistance if it is deemed necessary. On the military cooperation issue, he pointed out that the Russian defense programs have a small participation in Greece's defense armaments and insinuated that the Russian defense ind ustries are met with an unfavorable treatment by the Greek government.

Mr. Stephanopoulos referred to the Cyprus issue characterizing the latest developments as positive when he commented on the meeting of Cypriot President Clerides, Turkish Cypriot leader Denktash and UN secretary-general envoy de Soto that took place at M r. Denktash's residence in the Turkish occupied territories yesterday evening. However, he clarified that nobody can be sure about the outcome of the talks. Mr. Stephanopoulos also thanked his Russian counterpart on the constructive presence of his count ry in the Cyprus issue.

Mr. Stephanopoulos and Mr. Putin signed significant bilateral agreements on the sectors of shipping, air transportation, police cooperation, justice, energy and the establishment of cultural centers.

However, in spite of the small state participation, the overall spending on health in Greece compared to the GDP is relatively high and as a result Greece occupies the fourth place among the "15".

The overall health spending in Greece is at 8.4% of the GDP which is the fourth higher percentage in the European Union after Germany (10.3%), France (9.3%) and Holland (8.7%).

Council of Hellenes Abroad, SAE, Youth World Assembly meeting that opened in Thessaloniki today.

Speaking to the young Greeks living abroad delegates, Mr. Magriotis stressed that the new generation to which the 21st century belongs will be the brightest generation ever and the 2004 Olympic Games will be the symbol of modern Greece and the vehicle th at will lead the Greeks to the broadest avenues of the future.

SAE President Andrew Athens, addressing the young Greeks living abroad, called on them to work with all their power for the cause of the 2004 Olympiad and added that SAE's 4th World Assembly will be an assembly of decisions and actions.

The Greek Foreign Ministry General Secretary Dimitris Dollis, responsible for the Greeks living abroad, stated that in the following days the Greeks living abroad will make the first steps on volunteerism that will lead us to 2004 and beyond.

The above were stated by Macedonia-Thrace Minister Giorgos Paschalidis within the framework of the 1st Greek-Dutch Agricultural Conference organized by the Association of Industries in Northern Greece in cooperation with the Dutch Royal Embassy.

Of the stocks trading today, 305 recorded gains and 37 had losses, while the value of 17 stocks remained unchanged.

On the US and British text on the Euro-army, that was approved by the Turkish side, Mr. Protopapas stated that it is vague and has shortcomings that can cause misinterpretations concerning the activities of the Euro-army. He added that for this reason ch anges should be made for the final text to be in agreement with the Nice Treaty principles concerning the European Union autonomy in decision making.

Government spokesman Christos Protopapas stated that Mr. Simitis stressed that a lot of work remains to be done but things are on the right track. He stated characteristically that the Greek side wants a viable and fair solution to the problem within the

framework of the UN decisions.

He also added that Turkey's readjusted position is the result of the pressures exerted on it by the international community and expressed the hope that Turkey will maintain this direction and a solution to the problem will be found through dialogue.

Mr. Protopapas reiterated that the Greek government supports fully the efforts made by President Clerides and the Cypriot government.

The discussion concerning the terms, based on which the European arrest warrant will be issued, had already started before the September 11 terrorist attack on the United States and today a decision is expected to be reached on those terms after the mobi lity that was observed on the issue in the past few months.

Mr. Papapetrou did not rule out the likelihood of confidence-building-measures if there are indications that there is progress in the talks.

The 14th meeting of the two sides, in which Cypriot Parliament president Dimitris Christofias is represented by former Cypriot Parliament President Vasos Lisaridis, gave to Ms. Fontaine the opportunity to present her positions on all the important issues

with which the EU is currently concerned giving an emphasis to EU enlargement.

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