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Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2003-03-31
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY
Thessaloniki, March 31, 2003
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] "OPENING NIGHT" FOR THE EUROARMY
[02] ANSWERS TO THE BAKOYANNIS MURDER
[03] THE CANDLE HIJACKER TESTIFIES TODAY
[04] SUSPICIOUS, BUT NOT MAD
[05] ARAB LEAGUE SECRETARY GENERAL IN ATHENS
[06] SIMITIS: NO EMERGENCY MEASURES NECESSARY AT PRESENT
[07] SIMITIS RULES OUT EMERGENCY ECONOMIC MEASURES
[08] PETSOS: LEADERS OF 17N STILL AT LARGE
[09] KAKLAMANIS: THE EU IS NOT COLLATERAL DAMAGE OF IRAQ WAR
[10] TURKISH HIJACKER IN JAIL
[11] EXCLUDING MEASURES, ANNOUNCING CHANGES
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS IN DETAILS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] "OPENING NIGHT" FOR THE EUROARMY
The first joint European military force is being installed in FYROM today, replacing the NATO force that was there to observe the country's stabilization. Participants in the ceremony to take place include the President of the Council of Ministers G. Pap
andreou, Secretary General of the European Council J. Solana, and Secretary General of NATO Lord Robertson.
[02] ANSWERS TO THE BAKOYANNIS MURDER
Testimonies on the murder of ND MP Pavlos Bakoyannis and the attempted murder of former Minister Giorgos Petsos will lead the continuation of the trial on the crimes committed by members of the 17N terrorist organization. Witnesses to testify include May
or of Athens Dora Bakoyanni and Pavlos Bakoyannis' children. The trial is entering its 5th week.
[03] THE CANDLE HIJACKER TESTIFIES TODAY
Twenty-year-old Turk Ozgur Aslan, who attempted to force a THY (Turkish airline) flight to take him to Berlin by threatening with the use of candles, but was captured with the intervention of the Greek authorities in Athens airport, will testify today. H
e has been charged with criminal charges. Positive international comments on the way the situation was handled.
[04] SUSPICIOUS, BUT NOT MAD
The slaughterhouse sample from Evros that had been considered suspicious of Spongiform Encephalopathy tested negative, while an answer is expected tomorrow from the EU labs it was sent to. A preliminary investigation has been ordered by the Ministry of A
griculture regarding the supply of the specific slaughterhouse to the market, despite the fact that it was committed.
[05] ARAB LEAGUE SECRETARY GENERAL IN ATHENS
Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou will meet with Secretary General of the Arab League Amer Mousa today. Their discussions will concern war developments in Iraq and the situation being formed in the Middle East.
[06] SIMITIS: NO EMERGENCY MEASURES NECESSARY AT PRESENT
Prime Minister Costas Simitis made a categorical statement that emergency measures, due to the war in Iraq, are not necessary in Greece at the present, during his speech at a PASOK meeting on small and medium businesses.
"At the moment, we do not need to resort to emergency measures", said Mr. Simitis, and criticized all those who ask for them without defining them, noting that their goal is to create unrest and disturb the atmosphere of trust. "Some circles ask for them
(emergency measures) without ever specifying what they mean. The appeal for emergency measures aims at causing unrest. What is important is the atmosphere of trust that exists, and which we do not need to risk", said the Prime Minister.
He recommended calmness, because, as he pointed out, Greece is in a position to deal with the problems of the war in Iraq, while he asked for unity and solidarity, beyond political parties.
At the same time, Mr. Simitis underlined that we must be carried away and abandon our goals due to the war. Greece also has its own interests, its own goals and with its every movement it seeks to consolidate its conquests, to consolidate its interests,
in both general politics and the economy.
The PASOK government has only one compass, said the Prime Minister: The interest of the country, the land, the Greek people. First of all, is Greece.
As far as small and medium businesses are concerned, he stressed that the government supports them because they are the backbone of the Greek economy.
[07] SIMITIS RULES OUT EMERGENCY ECONOMIC MEASURES
We need solidarity and unity, above and beyond political differentiations, said Prime Minister Costas Simitis today, speaking at a PASOK meeting concerning small and medium businesses, while he gave his assurance that the Greek economy has the potential
not to be affected by the crisis. The Prime Minister accused those who ask for special measures for the economy of wanting to cultivate an atmosphere of uncertainty and unrest.
[08] PETSOS: LEADERS OF 17N STILL AT LARGE
There was tension at the courthouse of the Corydallos Penitentiary where the 17N trial has moved into its 19th day. The prosecution attorney for Giorgos Petsos, Sakis Kechagioglou, asked the court that three witnesses be called to testify concerning the
case. One of the witnesses spoke of three culprits in the attempted murder of the former Minister, describing one as a heavy set person, while another witness mentioned that a woman was present. That point caused the intense reaction of Aggeliki Sotiropou
lou who stated that she is not a suspect in this case.
Meanwhile, there was interest in an action of former Minister Giorgos Petsos, who went to the stand where the suspects are seated and gave Dimitris Koufontinas two documents. They concerned his acquittal by the Special Court on the Koskotas scandal and h
is appointment to the position of Prefect. Mr. Petsos stated that he did this so that the accused learn the truth.
Dimitris Koufontinas was caught off guard by the witness' action and smiled, however he took the documents without reading them.
The attempt on Mr. Petsos' life was made on May 8, 1989, by means of a car bomb. The witness supported that only the operational branch of 17N is on trial, and that the "masterminds" of the organization and those that wrote the declarations, are still at
large. Mr. Petsos stated that they tried to kill him to keep him from testifying in the Koskotas scandal, and made insinuations that the secret services are also implicated, asking that the Commander of the Greek Intelligence Service at the time, Costas
Tsimas, testify.
[09] KAKLAMANIS: THE EU IS NOT COLLATERAL DAMAGE OF IRAQ WAR
"The formation of the new European reality is in danger of being dynamited by the international crisis of Iraq", stressed the President of the Greek Parliament Apostolos Kaklamanis, in his greeting to the conference of the Committee of Constitutional Iss
ues and European Governing.
"The United Europe, the democratic vision of the European peoples, is a target of the war in Iraq and in any case, it must not be considered its "collateral damage"", said Mr. Kaklamanis, who raised questions such as: "What is the future of Europe, which
is divided in the face of the Iraqi crisis and tried by unilateral decisions of certain of its members, and the "hurried" - at least - positions of certain members of the former soviet bloc, which forebode of acting more like NATO members than EU members
? What is the future of the UN, which is being undermined by the decisions of an "Iberian-Atlantic" front? What is the future of the fragile region of the Middle East - which is so close to our country - which will undergo blows strikes to the financial,
humanitarian and environmental front?"
[10] TURKISH HIJACKER IN JAIL
The 20-year-old Turk that hijacked a Turkish Airlines carrying out an Istanbul-Ankara flight, and who forced the pilots to land in the "Eleftherios Venizelos" airport, is being detained and awaiting trial, after Greek Police Special Forces arrested him o
n Friday night.
Ozgur Kedsaslan will be examined by a psychologist and psychiatrist in the next few days, while he is being held in the Avlona prisons after his testimony to the 7th Regular DA.
[11] EXCLUDING MEASURES, ANNOUNCING CHANGES
Prime Minister Costas Simitis gave his assurance that the Greek economy has the potential not to be affected by the crisis and that there is no reason for special measures to be taken, in speaking at a PASOK meeting concerning small and medium businesses
. Mr. Simitis stressed that some of the issues raised by certain participants in the meeting will be dealt with differently, so that development can be boosted faster.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
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