A gigantic forest fire which broke out early yesterday near Mount Penteli, overlooking Athens, continued to rage in the evening, fanned by strong winds of up to eight on the Beaufort scale.
The blaze destroyed large expanses of forest, hundreds of houses in the communities of Nea and Palea Penteli, Drafi, Voutsas, Anthousa and Kallitechnoupoli. It also forced the evacuation of several inhabited areas, including two summer camps and a children's hospital. A cloud of some 160 kilometres length was visible on meteorological satellite photos, a spokesman of the Greek meteorological authorities said.
The government declared a state of emergency near the Penteli region as scores of soldiers were sent to the area to assist in the fire-fighting operation. The massive fire is considered one of the largest ever in Greece, stretching along more than 20 kilometres.
The entire force of the Attica Fire Service, comprising 40 fire engines and 330 fire-fighters, as well as special forces assisted by reinforcements from the provinces were combating flames of up to 30 metres high at press time. Fire-fighting planes were initially grounded by strong winds, but an unexpected abatement shortly before 8 p.m. enabled planes to fly into action with limited results, however. Ten fire-fighters were reported injured.
Earlier, Interior Under-Secretary Kimon Koulouris briefed Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou, telling reporters he was considering the requisition of private vehicles to assist efforts to quell the blaze. "We're trying to save whatever can be saved. The situation is very difficult," he said. Police said they suspected arson. No loss of life was reported.
The main opposition New Democracy party criticised the government yesterday for not being invited to a London summit on the Bosnian issue, which was attended by most of the European countries as well as Bangladesh and Turkey.
An ND spokesman said the incident confirms Greece's international isolation, also questioning: "Where is the prime minister? What is the foreign minister doing? Where is the government?"
In reply, government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos condemned the ND leadership of exhibiting a "large degree of superficiality in formulation of its foreign policy position."
The meeting held in London was attended by the Contact Group (United States, Britain, Russia, Germany and France) and countries which have peacekeeping troops in Bosnia, Mr. Venizelos said.
The Greek, Bosnian and Iranian foreign ministers backed recognition of Bosnia by the rump Yugoslavia as a key diplomatic solution to the crisis, during their meeting in Athens yesterday.
Bosnian Foreign Minister Mohammed Sacirbey said after conferring with Greek counterparts Karolos Papoulias and Iranian Ali Akbar Velayati, that mutual recognition between rump Yugoslavia and Bosnia "could be accompanied by a gradual lifting of sanctions (against ex-Yugoslavia), including an end to an arms embargo, with similar moves by Belgrade toward mutual recognition among sovereigns and an effective closing of the borders (with the Bosnian Serbs)."
Later in the day, French Foreign Minister Herve de Charette announced in London that European Union mediator Carl Bildt had reached agreement with Belgrade on the recognition of Bosnia. He made the announcement after the conclusion of a five-nation (Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States) "contact-group" meeting on the Bosnia crisis. He said it was "a first excellent result" for Bildt, who succeeded Lord David Owen to the post of EU mediator last month. Reliable sources said Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic agreed to recognise Bosnia in return for a conditional lifting of UN-imposed sanctions against rump Yugoslavia.
The tripartite meeting in Athens was the third between the foreign ministers of Bosnia, Greece and Iran since Mr. Velayati and Mr. Papoulias launched a peace initiative in March aimed at bringing direct contacts between the Bosnian government and the Serbs.
Referring to the proposed mutual recognition between Bosnia and rump Yugoslavia as well as the closure of borders between them, Mr. Sacirbey said after the meeting: "this avenue to Belgrade has been pursued by the European Union for months. All we are trying to do is encourage it. "It is up to Belgrade to take advantage of this opportunity," he added.
Mr. Sacirbey called on the international community, the EU and the five-nation contact group to "put necessary pressure on Belgrade to either show its true commitment to peace or effectively be involved in something less that real devotion to peace."
Asked whether the Bosnian government was prepared to swap the removal of UNPROFOR for the lifting of an arms embargo, he said: "We are prepared to, but that doesn't mean that we do not see the need for a diplomatic framework to bring about a necessary solution."
"For three and a half years we have negotiated in good faith. But the pieces of paper we have signed have not been effective when faced with the military option that the Pale Serbs have chosen," he added. "What we must have is peace in the one hand and the weapons in the other, and let the Pale Serbs choose whether they want to confront us with the weapons t hat we have, or the paper," the Bosnian minister said.
Me. Velayati and Mr. Sacirbey were scheduled to fly later to Geneva for a meeting of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Contact Group for Bosnia. The urgent OIC session was called after Bosnian Serb forces overran the eastern enclave of Srebrenica 10 days ago, causing about 30,000 Bosnian Moslems to flee. "This has been the most horrendous action" waged by the Bosnian Serbs, Mr. Sacirbey said.
Mr. Velayati condemned the Serb attacks as "disastrous" and called for a peaceful settlement. "We are against war crimes, and we agreed here on the need for a political settlement for Bosnia," he said. "We (Iran) believe that Moslems, Christians, Jews should peacefully live together in the Balkans. There is no other way," Mr. Velayati added.
Mr. Papoulias called for another meeting in Geneva to resolve the crisis through diplomatic means, saying Greece had decided "to reassess its relations with Bosnia."
President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos yesterday said Greece was the first country to desire a solution to problems in the Balkans.
Speaking to reporters after talks with his German counterpart Roman Herzog, Mr. Stephanopoulos said discussions focused on Greece's efforts to improve relations with Albania and find a solution to the Skopje issue, as well as the Bosnian crisis and the future of the European Union. He said, however, that the Cyprus problem and a worsening in Greek-Turkish relations were not raised in the meeting.
Mr. Stephanopoulos, in Germany for a courtesy visit to Mr. Herzog, told reporters the two countries shared common goals, namely "the making of Europe according to the desire of the peoples of its member-states" and "the finding of a solution to Bosnia through diplomatic means." Mr. Stephanopoulos reiterated Greece's position to abstain from any military operations in Bosnia, describing its as "correct."
Calling relations between Greece and Germany excellent, Mr. Stephanopoulos stressed Germany's "substantial role in the course of European unification." He said justice should be the basis of the building of a united Europe, the values of which should emanate from the Greek spirit, the Roman justice, a common Christian faith and contribution to a civilisation of intellectuals."
Calling on the international community to re-establish peace in former Yugoslavia, Mr. Herzog said "Greece, due to its geopolitical and geographical position has a very important role to play." He urged Greece to take the opportunity "to its benefit and the benefit of Europe, to contribute to the political and economic stability in the region," adding that Greek-German relations were close. Mr. Stephanopoulos was due in Athens later in the evening.
Police in Patras said yesterday that the National Bank of Greece in the port city reported discovery of counterfeit notes totalling 19,000 pounds.
According to the police, 380 counterfeit bills in 50 pounds denominations were presented to a National Bank branch by the Patras-based company "Carlos Enterprises - Exchange Bureau S.A." for conversion to drachmas on July 14. On July 17, during a check at the main branch in Patras, the notes were found to be counterfeit and confiscated.
According to a spokesman for the firm, the company converted the pounds into drachmas on behalf of "General Comercia," a company registered in Patras, whose representative reportedly imported the pounds legally from Italy.
The representative, Sotiris Brakatselos, told police that he himself imported the money into Greece with a large amount of Italian lire on July 12. He said he had been given the foreign currency by a customer based in the industrial estate of San Salvo, Pescara, as a business transactions. He identified the customer only as "Luigi," saying he represented a company called "Jonathan SRL."
Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana and All Albania arrived here yesterday for an official visit to the Ecumenical Patriarchate. During his stay, Archbishop Anastasios will have talks with Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos and members of the Holy Synod on the Albanian ecclesiastical issues.
Greeting Anastasios to the Patriarchate, Vartholomeos described his work in Albania as "historic," adding that "the Ecumenical Patriarchate has every right to be proud for the choice it has made."
After talks, Patriarch Vartholomeos described as "promising" recent developments in relations between Albania and Greece. "We hope that improvement in relations will continue on a permanent basis and that this will facilitate the work of his beatitude (Anastasios)," the Patriarch said.
The organisation Reporters Sans Frontieres called on Press Minister Evangelos Venizelos to assure the physical and moral protection of Takis Berberakis, a Turkish journalist accused by the far right-wing weekly "Stohos" (target) of leading a hate campaign against Greece.
In a letter to Mr. Venizelos, the organisation also called on the minister to order an inquiry on the publication, either for disturbance of public order or inciting racial hatred. In a statement earlier in the week, the press minister said such publications were not representative of public opinion in Greece.
An exhibition entitled "Macedonians, the Greeks of the north and the era of Alexander the Great," was inaugurated in the French port city of Marseilles yesterday at the Mediterranean Archaeological Museum.
The exhibition, organised by the Greek Culture Ministry, will display 361 pieces, including jewellery, works of art and every day utensils. The event was attended by Culture Ministry Secretary General G. Thomas, the Greek Ambassador to France D. Makris, representatives of local French authorities and many personalities of the political and intellectual world of southern France.