in the villa of businessman Athanassoulis was referred to Praliament.

During his visit, the Chief of Staff will meet with his Israeli counterpart, Lieutenant General Moshe Yaalon, with whom he will discuss issues of bilateral military and defense technology cooperation. He will also have discussions with Minister of Defens e Shaul Mofaz.

At the same time he will visit military installations and watch Israeli Armed Forces exercises. The schedule of the Greek delegation also includes a visit to the Jerusalem Patriarchate and a meeting with the Patriarch of Jerusalem, as well as visits to o ther holy grounds.

The passengers are being transferred to Piraeus on the "Ierapetra", Olympia Countess", and "Olympia Explorer", while 5 passengers and 4 crew members remained on "JET1"of their own free will. The catamaran is being tugged to Thira, escorted by a coast gua rd boat and the "ELLI" navy frigate.

special conference on the peaceful and viable solution of the Cyprus issue and the approaching of the two communities once again.

In statements to the MPA, the Vice President of OKOE and the Global Federation of Cypriots Abroad (POMAK), Costas Stamataris, pointed out that in this first meeting Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot organizations will be given the chance to exchange idea s and views, and expressed his certainty that there will be a joint resolution-declaration concerning their homeland, Cyprus.

"I made a mistake, one step too many", he pointed out characteristically. "You did not make a step too many, you made one mistake too many. When you are following a car, you do not let it get away by one inch", stated Court President Michalis Margaritis.

During Mr. Mavrouleas' testimony, defendant Dimitris Koufontinas asked for the permission to speak, and upon receiving it, repeated his claims of fabrications, while he then started a dialogue with the witness, with whom it appears they found each other face to face.

Responding to a question on the issue, presented in Parliament by governing Socialist Party of PASOK deputy and former Foreign Minister Yiannis Kapsis, Mr. Loverdos pointed out that nothing has been decided yet on the regulations regarding the issue of a ir-corridors within the framework of the ICAO. He also added that the relevant discussions are still in progress.

Any decision is reached unanimously and therefore, Greece's opinion is necessary given the fact that the issues to be settled concern air-corridors within the framework of the Athens FIR.

Assistant Physics Professor at Thessaloniki's Aristotle University Mr. Varvoglis stated to Athens newspaper "TO VIMA", that the people living in northern Greece will be fortunate to watch about 60% of the solar disc being covered by the moon. The percent age of the solar disc surface to be covered by the moon will be smaller in the southern part of Greece. Mr. Varvoglis stated that Greece will be among the countries that will have the rare opportunity to enjoy a total solar eclipse in March 2006 which wil l be 100% visible from the southern Aegean island of Kastelorizo.

The countries to enjoy tomorrow's spectacle in its totality will be Greenland, Iceland and Scotland. The people living in those countries will be able to watch an impressive annular solar eclipse namely, the effect will be that of a thin rim of the sun's

disc around the outline of the moon.

Mr. Hitiris stated that Greece needs no "thank you" from anybody and does what it has to be done. He said that Greece's stance in the war against Iraq is known. The war coincided with the Greek EU Presidency. The stance, the actions and the results of th e Greek EU Presidency actions, are known. Many positive things have been mentioned for Greece and the Greek EU Presidency, said Mr. Hitiris. He added that the Greek government needs no "thank you" from anybody. It backs Greece's national interests and hon ors its bilateral and multilateral obligations, said Mr. Hitiris.

Illegal human trafficking is regarded as a very profitable organized crime sector with annual gains of US$7-12 billion worldwide.

Based on figures provided by the International Center on Immigration Policy, a woman "bought" for US$1,500 will be sold for US$350 an hour and therefore, her cost will be covered in just five hours. The above were mentioned, among others, in a seminar fo r southeastern European journalists organized in Thessaloniki by the Greek Ministry of Mass Media and Press.

Human trafficking involves a total of 700,000-2,000,000 people worldwide (300,000-500,000 in Eastern Europe and 170,000 in southeastern Europe).

About 90% of the women, who are victims of human trafficking, are also victims of sexual exploitation but only 35% of them are recognized as such and just 7% receive long-term assistance.

Regarding the illegal trafficking of children in southeastern Europe, the majority comes from Albania and those under the age of 12 become beggars, while the teenagers are being led to prostitution.

Of the stocks trading today, 105 had gains and 190 recorded losses, while the value of 83 stocks remained unchanged.

The Greek State will sell a total of 43.5 million Hellenic Petroleum shares (7.5 euro per share), namely 16.65% of the shares, to Paneuropean Oil & Industrial Holdings, a company in control of the majority of Petrola shares (71.9%).

The members of the board of directors will be increased to 13 from 11. Seven of them will be appointed by the Greek State, 2 by Petrola, 2 will represent the employees and 2 the shareholders.

Over 60 political parties from all over the world will attend the meeting to discuss new initiatives for the strengthening of the role of the Communist movement and issues of solidarity with the struggling peoples.

Prime Minister Costas Simitis met with the Presidents of Associations of Greeks Living in Russia yesterday in St. Petersburg.

Addressing the representatives of the Greeks living in Russia, the Prime Minister stressed his happiness at being there and having the opportunity to exchange views and information on the problems faced by the Greek community in Russia and the former Sov iet Union.

Mr. Simitis underlined that the Greek state is aware of the problems Greeks living in that region face, and stated that Greece is working for solutions through specific measures and programmes in order to achieve:

Schools teaching Greek Preserving the Greek language, traditions and customs Taking initiative in helping Greeks in difficult situations, such as that in Abchasia. The promotion of cultural progammes connecting Greeks in Russia with Greece Facilitating travel from Russia to Greece.

Mr. Simitis traveled to St. Petersburg both in order to attend the celebrations for the 300th anniversary since the founding of the second largest city in Russia by Peter the Great, as well as for the EU(Troika)-Russia Summit to be held on May 31, he tha nked the Greeks living in Russia for their offer of the statue of the first governor of the modern Greek state in St. Petersburg, stressing that the gesture underlines "the powerful symbolism this individual had on both our peoples, the common points of o ur history, our ties".

The Prime Minister also expressed his certainty that the statue of Ioannis Kapodistrias will symbolize the proximity of the peoples of Greece and Russia, as well as the approach of Russia to the rest of Europe, with the personality and existence of this city as its main expression.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesperson Valentina Matviyenko and the Governor of St. Petersburg also referred to the personality of Ioannis Kapodistrias, the placing of the statue in the Greek Square, symbolizing the friendship and the traditiona l, historical and cultural ties between Greece and Russia, as well as the friendship between the two peoples, while they did not leave out the broadened cooperation between the two countries in all sectors.

The Prime Minister and the two Russian officials then placed a wreath at the foot of the statue, which was sculpted by Victor Klykof with the funding of Greek businessmen living in Russia.

Mr. Simitis in a press conference in St. Petersburg reiterated the need to upgrade the EU-Russia relations and underlined that the Greek EU Presidency will do everything possible toward this direction.

Mr. Simitis stated that efforts have been made for the improvement of the EU-Russia relations in the sectors of foreign policy, security and defense policy, economic cooperation and cooperation in the sectors of justice and public order, as well as in th e sector of technology and culture.

He mentioned that the Russian tariffs are high and this blocks the presence of EU companies in Russia as well as the European imports. Mr. Simitis also stated that among the issues that have to be considered, are those that concern the EU regarding its r elations with the rest of the world, like the protection of the environment in combination with the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol.

Mr. Simitis pointed out that in Russia and the former Soviet Union there is a huge issue regarding nuclear wastes and the production of electricity from nuclear energy. He also said that the EU has agreed to finance Russia for the destruction of its nucl ear warheads.

He said that in the EU-Russia Summit will also be discussed issues that will concern measures against organized crime, immigration (immigration control and measures against illegal immigration), the agreement for the repatriation of illegal immigrants, t he lifting of the Schengen agreement restrictions, and the easier movement of Russian citizens to the European Union.

Mr. Simitis also said that under discussion will be international issues as well, like the situation in Iraq, the promotion of peace in the Middle East, the situation in western Balkans, the Cyprus problem, the situation in Moldavia, the issue of Kalinin grant and the implementation of the agreement with Lithuania.

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