Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 02-01-14

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Gov't rejects published list of alleged terrorist suspects

[02] PM welcomes outcome of talks with Bush on return from US

[03] US defense secretary welcomes talks with Greek PM

[04] Minister cites need for cooperation with US

[05] Karamanlis: Looming EU expansion a deadline for Cyprus talks

[06] Patriarch in Iran: Christian-Muslim dialogue has begun

[07] Orthodox archbishop says years needed to heal Sept. 11 wounds

[08] Main opposition leader raps weather emergency services

[09] National Bank of Greece workers may strike over Alpha merger

[10] Winter sales begin on Monday with euro, drachma-pricing

[11] Irene Papas honored with 'European Women of 2002' prize

[12] Final details of Greek-Turkish joint bid for Euro 2008 in place

[13] President to meet again with Committee of Missing

[14] UN Chief of Mission welcomes "productive meetings" on missing

[01] Gov't rejects published list of alleged terrorist suspects

Athens, 14/02/2002 (ANA)

The high-profile article in the newspaper "Sto Karfi" published what it claims is a report by former Greek intelligence agent Nikos Gryllakis, complete with the names of alleged terrorists, including individuals tied to the notorious "November 17" urban terrorist group.

"We view these scenarios as both ridiculous and base," government spokesman Christos Protopapas said in a statement.

"We cannot waste time over this. Before us lie the country's problems. Our attention is exclusively focused on these," he added

Prime Minister Costas Simitis, who returned to Athens on Saturday from an official trip to the United States, told reporters during the flight that in his six years as premier he has never encountered any such a list of terrorist suspects.

Reporters asked Simitis to comment on the story following leaks that it would be published the following day.

The Greek prime minister added that publication of any names would create a breach of human rights, damaging the individuals cited and affording protection for the guilty.

The secretary of PASOK's central committee, Costas Laliotis, also dismissed the newspaper story.

Laliotis said in a statement on Sunday that the terrorism report and list were the work of "diseased minds" aiming to malign PASOK and people who had resisted the country's 1967-74 dictatorship.

G. Papandreou dismisses 'list' of Nov. 17 suspects: Foreign Minister George Papandreou joined the chorus of reaction to Sunday's press publication of a list of names, including several well-known PASOK cadres, allegedly involved in the notorious "November 17" terrorist group.

In radio comments, Papandreou said Greece is committed to the struggle against terrorism, while stressing that the high-profile "list of names" is without merit.

"One must completely separate the struggle for democracy in our country up until 1974, which in turn was conducted via legal means and parties ... from the terrorist actions that have no relation to those struggles," Papandreou said.

Main opposition sees alleged terrorist suspect list as spy fiction: The main opposition New Democracy (ND) party on Sunday brushed off as spy fiction an article in the Sunday Karfi newspaper that alleged to make public a report claiming links between members of the ruling PASOK party and the November 17 terrorist group, also citing names.

"John Le Carre-type scenarios - as New Democracy called them when they were being adopted by others, are not worthy of serious consideration," ND media spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos said in a statement.

"We are glad that even those who until recently accepted the assertions of diseased minds today reject them," Roussopoulos added.

He charged the government with trying to divert public attention from the country's problems.

Coalition of the Left says terrorism talk used as lever for power: The leader of the Coalition of the Left and Progress, Nikos Konstantopoulos, said on Sunday that issues surrounding terrorism were repeatedly used as a lever for political destabilization and power.

"This is drivel that is rehashed every so often as material for a manufactured political crisis and political destabilization," Konstantopoulos said in reply to reporters' questions.

Minister intimates breakthrough in the wings on terrorism: Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos on Sunday intimated that a breakthrough was imminent in the quest to unravel terrorist operations.

"I think that in this matter we should be sparing of words, serious and responsible. This is the tone set by the prime minister, and this is the tone used by the government ministers concerned," Venizelos told reporters.

"And I am glad that in a very large section of the press a belief has been consolidated that we are very near to very specific and tangible results," he said.

[02] PM welcomes outcome of talks with Bush on return from US

Athens, 14/02/2002 (ANA)

Speaking to reporters on the flight home, Simitis also said that the US Jewish Council had praised the abolition of religion as a category of information on Greek state-issued ID cards; and the creation of a monument to Jews in Thessaloniki.

Turning to the Cyprus issue, the prime minister showed a guarded response to the outcome of recent talks between Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash.

He said that substantive progress on Cyprus could only be made within six months if Denktash changed his line.

Asked to comment on a rumored list of terrorism suspects including public figures, Simitis said that in his six-year tenure as prime minister he had not encountered such a record.

Public release of any names would create a breach of human rights, damaging the individuals cited and affording protection for the guilty, he added.

Answering another reporter's question, the prime minister said that the government was looking into the issue of major terrorist crimes being written off due to the country's 20-year statute of limitations.

Any retroactive legal measure would be difficult to introduce, he added.

The Ta Nea daily newspaper and its Tachydromos supplement had said that the first four murders committed by the November 17 terrorist group were no longer open to judicial action due to the time limit on legal action.

The first of the four was the murder of CIA station chief Richard Wells in Athens on December 23, 1975.

Main opposition sees no benefit so far from PM's trip to US: The leader of the main opposition New Democracy party, Costas Karamanlis, said that no benefit for the nation had so far emerged from a visit to the US last week by the prime minister.

"It is too soon to make a full assessment of the outcome of this visit. From the data so far, however, it seems that no benefit for the nation was gained," Karamanlis said during a tour of Hania, Crete.

He told reporters that in 2002 major national issues would reach a head, requiring national unity.

On the question of the European army and Turkey, a difference of opinion had essentially been formalized, while on the Cyprus issue the US side had not taken a stand, Karamanlis said.

He repeated his party's call for the creation of a national foreign policy council.

[03] US defense secretary welcomes talks with Greek PM

WASHINGTON, 14/02/2002 (ANA/A. Ellis)

Replying to a reporter's question, Rumsfeld said the talks had covered the battle against global terrorism, and security at the Olympic Games to be held in Salt Lake City and Athens.

The meeting, which he described as 'very good', was a session between NATO allies and friends, the US official added.

[04] Minister cites need for cooperation with US

Athens, 14/02/2002 (ANA)

Matters of importance to Greece in which the government should evolve effective terms of cooperation with the US included resolution of the Cyprus issue and the island republic's entry into the EU; and world security in the wake of the Afghanistan war linked to the battle against terrorism.

Speaking on the sidelines of a ruling PASOK party youth meeting in Thessaloniki, the minister was commenting on the premier's visit to the US last week.

[05] Karamanlis: Looming EU expansion a deadline for Cyprus talks

Athens, 14/02/2002 (ANA)

Karamanlis also emphasized in a television interview that the island republic's EU accession should proceed regardless of developments over a Cyprus solution.

Answering a question on whether he favors a deadline for talks between the two communities on the island republic leading to a solution, Karamanlis cited expected decisions on EU expansion at some point next year as more-or-less providing a cut-off point.

He also referred to presidential elections in Cyprus in early 2003.

"Within 2002 or before the end of 2002 these things will have to be cleared up," he said, adding: "We all want a political solution, as long as it is fair and viable. But if it is not achieved because the Turkish Cypriot side, and basically Turkey, does not want a fair and viable solution, then accession must be promoted without hindrance."

Finally, he warned that "there's no question of (EU) expansion without Cyprus participating in the first wave of new member-states."

[06] Patriarch in Iran: Christian-Muslim dialogue has begun

TEHRAN, 14/02/2002 (ANA - M. Papoutsaki)

Speaking on the third day of his historic visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran, Vartholomeos told reporters after his 40-meeting with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami that "we're ready for this dialogue ... We have nothing to fear ... The terrible events of the last few months necessitate a rapprochement; we're finding such a response in Iran."

Vartholomeos' visit to Iran is the first-ever by an Ecumenical Patriarch -- the "Primus inter pares" among Orthodox Patriarchs representing approximately 250 million Eastern Orthodox faithful around the world - and comes amidst a vigorous Patriarchate initiative to jumpstart an international dialogue among the world's major monotheistic religions.

After his 40-minute meeting with Iranian president, the Patriarch praised reformist Khatami, saying the latter is ready to open a "window" of dialogue.

"The president (Khatami) is concerned about the international situation," Vartholomeos told reporters, while adding that "specific steps on what must be done between us were discussed".

Earlier in the day the Ecumenical Patriarch delivered a keynote address at the Institute for International and Political Studies, where he again stressed that a dialogue between the Islamic world and Christendom is taking place without "delving into theological or dogmatic issues".

"The goal of these efforts, in fact, is the establishment of peace in the modern world," he said.

Vartholomeos also officiated at a church service held in the Iranian capital's only Greek Orthodox cathedral in the presence of the tiny ethnic Greek community that remains in the country. A handful of diplomats and faithful from other Christian denominations in the Iranian capital also attended.

The Patriarch concludes his visit to the Mideast country on Monday, and following his meeting with the spiritual leader of the Islamic revolution in the country, Ayatollah Ali Hoseini Khamenei.

Iran is the second predominately Muslim nation, following Bahrain, to issue an official invitation to the Ecumenical Patriarch.

[07] Orthodox archbishop says years needed to heal Sept. 11 wounds

Athens, 14/02/2002 (ANA)

Dimitrios also said that he saw the Ecumenical Patriarchate as the center of Orthodoxy and Hellenism, both of which knew no geographical bounds.

The senior cleric arrived in the Greek capital on Saturday at the start of an official visit for talks with the country's political leaders that he said he hoped would contribute to closer ties between ethnic Greeks in the US and their country of origin.

Also on Saturday, Dimitrios met Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All Greece for talks.

[08] Main opposition leader raps weather emergency services

Athens, 14/02/2002 (ANA)

"It is inconceivable that the country should be cut in two. The extent of damage is so great that it requires an aid request to the European Union, beyond state budget funds," Karamanlis said in Crete on Saturday.

During a two-day tour of weather-damaged areas in the town of Hania, he called on the government to record the damage and pay compensation immediately, also freezing the debts of farmers for a year.

Karamanlis acknowledged that weather conditions had been unusually severe, but still maintained that state services had failed to show readiness.

[09] National Bank of Greece workers may strike over Alpha merger

Athens, 14/02/2002 (ANA)

National's staff association said in a statement on Sunday that concern had arisen over the attitude of certain senior executives at Alpha, the country's second largest bank, towards operation of the new unit to be formed from the merger.

Both banks are blue chips on the Athens Stock Exchange.

[10] Winter sales begin on Monday with euro, drachma-pricing

Athens, 14/02/2002 (ANA)

The sales, which end on February 28, are to begin almost two weeks late this year due to introduction of the euro on January 1 in a move to lessen confusion over the new currency.

[11] Irene Papas honored with 'European Women of 2002' prize

Athens, 14/02/2002 (ANA)

Papas received the award for her contribution to the promotion, at European Union level, of a European cultural identity.

She was also honored for her initiatives for a pluralistic Europe based on the common cultural values of its peoples.

[12] Final details of Greek-Turkish joint bid for Euro 2008 in place

ISTANBUL, 14/02/2002 (ANA)

The cities of Thessaloniki, Volos, Patra and Irakleio, Crete will host games in Greece, while the Euro 2008 final will take place at Athens' Olympic Stadium. In Turkey, matches will be hosted in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and Antalya.

The Greek-Turkish bid will be presented at UEFA's upcoming conference in Stockholm this April, while the joint organizing committee's next meeting will take place in Thessaloniki next month.

[13] President to meet again with Committee of Missing

NICOSIA, 14/02/2002 (CNA/ANA)

The president of the Committee of Relatives of Missing Persons Nicos Theodosiou said after the 90-minute long meeting he was pleased with the way Clerides is handling this humanitarian issue and added he remained cautiously optimistic about progress towards the resolution of the problem.

Sunday's meeting, with the participation of presidential aides, was called after Clerides and Denktash agreed on Friday to put on paper their views about practical ways to push for a solution of the issue of missing persons with a view to drafting an outline agreement.

"The president briefed us about his meetings with Denktash, we had a detailed discussion with him and exchanged views on possible scenarios," Theodosiou said after Sunday's meeting.

He said the committee will meet again with the president before he sees Denktash about the issue of missing persons.

Replying to questions, Theodosiou said the Committee believes it is a good idea to define a certain timetable for concrete steps in order to make it more difficult for anybody to backtrack on any agreed procedure.

Asked if he was pleased with the way Clerides is dealing with the issue of missing persons, he said "the president continues to act within the agreed framework and we are pleased with that."

Theodosiou refrained from commenting on remarks by Denktash who said he saw no need to apply the DNA method for the identification of remains that may be unearthed in the future.

Present at the meeting were Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides,

Attorney General Alecos Markides, Humanitarian Affairs Com-missioner Takis Christopoulos, Theodosiou and the president of the Committee of Relatives of Missing Persons in Greece Mary Kouroupi.

[14] UN Chief of Mission welcomes "productive meetings" on missing

NICOSIA, 14/02/2002 (CNA/ANA)

Speaking to CNA, Wlosowicz praised the "positive approach" of President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash during the meetings, which he attended.

"The meetings were very productive and I was impressed by the positive approach of both leaders in solving the problem," the Chief of Mission said on Saturday.

Wlosowicz hosted the two meetings at his residence, in the UN controlled buffer zone, near Nicosia airport. The two leaders agreed to put on paper the way each one understands a draft agreement as to how to proceed in a practical way towards the resolution of the humanitarian issue of missing persons in Cyprus.

The views of both sides will be exchanged through Wlosowicz, probably on Monday.

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