According to a press report on the Athens newspaper "Ethnos", the network of blackmailers acted independently putting its victims in a hostage-like situation, extorting huge amounts of money from them. Among those ready to testify on the blackmail case, are two Metropolites.

Based on the investigation so far, it appears that at least two individuals are involved in the blackmail case, while according to the existing evidence, there is no link between the blackmails and terrorist group "17 November".

The present conjuncture is difficult for PASOK but it is capable of overturning it achieving a new election victory, stated Mr. Laliotis in an interview with the Athens radio station "Flash".

On the position he had expressed according to which, PASOK is against the war in Iraq and its members and officials will participate in the anti-war demonstrations that will take place around the world on February 15 organized by the "Stop the War Coalit ion", he said that he will attend the rally himself.

He pointed out that PASOK will have to express its pro-peace sentiments and sensitivities and that on such issues it has to be steps ahead of the government.

This happened in the name of Germany within the framework of the most horrible crime ever committed in the history of mankind. In order to stop this from happening again, humanity must know what happened, stated Mr. Doring adding that ignorance and indif ference lead to prejudice, denial, discrimination and ultimately to violence.

He stressed that in Germany and in many other countries extreme-right and anti-Semitism are on the rise, however, the majority of the Germans got their lesson from history. For the past 50 years, Germany is a country with a stable democracy and a home fo r over 100.000 Jews, said Mr. Doring.

The Council of Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries meets in Brussels today to examine the European Commission proposals on the Interim Revision of the Common Agriculture Policy.

The OISIN II seminar on the Police Monitoring Operations opens in Athens today, while the meeting on the Climate Change Convention and the Kyoto Protocol within the framework of the "Climate" Group of the Council opens in Nafplio today to last until Wedn esday.

In Athens, Greek Prime Minister and European Council President Kostas Simitis will meet with the Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederations of Europe, UNICE, leadership.

On January 29, Mr. Simitis will meet in Athens with the Hungarian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou will give a press conference to the foreign press correspondents.

On January 30, Deputy Foreign Minister Tasos Giannitsis will meet in Athens with the Slovak Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs responsible for European issues.

On January 31, Mr. Simitis will meet in Athens with the leadership of the European Syndicates Confederation, CES. In Ankara, the European Troika will meet with Turkey to discuss the European Commission Evaluation Report on the prospect of the Partnershi p Relation revision. The issues of human rights, the Cyprus issue and Iraq will be discussed within the Political Dialogue framework. On the sidelines of the meeting, Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou will meet with the Turkish Prime Minister and the AK P party leader.

The delegation will examine issues concerning the social security system, the state budget, public debt, the transparency of fiscal indexes, structural changes, labor relations, privatization, inflation, competitiveness of the economy and the deficit in the balance of payments.

Meanwhile, a European Statistics Agency (Eurostat) delegation will be in Greece by the end of February to decide on the fate of five public sector accounts that are still pending.

According to the Greek position, if CAP breaks up into national agricultural policies it would lead to chaos and injustice, while it is pointed out that the EU should have a single voice when it negotiates on agricultural issues with international organi zations, like the World Trade Organization.

It is mentioned that the abolition of CAP would destroy millions of small and medium sized farms, while millions of job positions will be lost bringing the end of the European agricultural model with negative ecological consequences.

Furthermore, most of the European population would be supplied with farm products by the international market or a highly intensive and industrialized agriculture with whatever this would mean for production cost and consumer prices.

Mr. Kaklamanis stated that Turkey is being self-trapped for as long as it does not cooperate for the solution of the Cyprus problem. Mr. Kaklamanis stated that the strategy followed by Ankara so far, aimed at keeping Cyprus hostage, has failed.

The Minister will have meetings with the Algerian President Abdelaziz Buteflika, his Algerian counterpart Lieutenant General Mohammed Lamari, as well as the leadership of the Algerian Armed Forces.

During Mr. Papantoniou's meetings with Algerian officials, issues concerning defense-technical cooperation between Greece and Algeria as well as defensive military cooperation between the two countries will be raised.

When asked about the possibility of "PASOK falling apart from within", the Government Spokesperson stated that "whomever is waiting for PASOK to fall apart is in for very unpleasant surprises. PASOK is directly related to society, it is moving forward, i t is taking up initiative and it will win the next elections, that is what we hope for, wish for and work towards".

As far as the possibility of early elections was concerned, Mr. Protopapas repeated that all those waiting for early elections to be declared would be disappointed.

Mr. Papandreou stressed that Europe can contribute to one more effort for a peaceful solution to the crisis in Iraq under the precondition that Saddam Hussein will cooperate fully with the United Nations.

Greek government spokesman Christos Protopapas stressed in Athens that the Greek EU Presidency through the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister will undertake all necessary initiatives for Europe to have its own single voice and be able to intervene d ecisively in the developments.

The Council, deeply concerned about the situation in Iraq, reaffirms that its goal remains the effective and complete disarmament of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. The Council fully supports the efforts of the UN to ensure full and immediate complia nce by Iraq with all relevant resolutions of the Security Council, in particular with UNSCR 1441 of 8 November 2002. The resolution gives an unambiguous message that the Iraqi Government has a final opportunity to resolve the crisis peacefully.

The Council therefore urges the Iraqi authorities to engage in full and active cooperation with UNMOVIC and IAEA. The Iraqi authorities must, as an imperative, provide the inspectors, without delay, with all additional and complete information on questio ns raised by the international community. The Council expresses its appreciation for the work accomplished by the inspectors so far and reiterates its confidence and full support for Dr. Blix and Dr. El Baradei to complete their mission in accordance with

UNSCR 1441. It welcomes their intention to continue and intensify their operations.

The Council recalls that it stands ready to engage all necessary efforts to answer the needs of UNMOVIC and IAEA in personnel and practical means.

The Council underlines the fundamental importance of preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in accordance with the relevant international instruments. The Security Council has a key role to play in these endeavours.

The Council reaffirms the role of the UNSC in the implementation of UNSCR 1441. The responsibility of the UNSC in maintaining international peace and security must be respected.

The announcement underlined the role of the Security Council in the application of UN resolutions on Iraq, while it asked Iraq to provide a peaceful solution to the crisis, cooperating with the UN inspectors peacefully. At the same time, the intention o f the inspectors to continue their work on the Iraqi arsenal so as to ascertain whether it holds any weapons of mass destruction is being viewed positively.

Earlier, Greek Foreign Minister and President of the Council, Giorgos Papandreou, called and emergency informal meeting with EU member states which are also members of the Security Council (Germany, England, France, Italy and Spain), in which the Iraq is sue was discussed.

Macedonian Press Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article