Athens News Agency: News in English (AM), 97-06-27

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

NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 27/06/1997 (ANA)

MAIN HEADLINES

• Greek parliamentary observers to Albanian elections leave today
• Greek ethnic leaders in Albania kidnapped as violence continues
• Premier confident of successful Athens 2004 bid
• EU socialist finance ministers weekend meeting in Athens
• Ecumenical Patriarch opens International environmental seminar
• Australian foreign minister in Athens today
• Gov't announces more centres for drug prevention
• Bulgarian President in Athens next week
• Mortgage Bank focuses on services for Greek expatriates
• Greenpeace congratulates gov't over solar power plant decision
• Profit-making curbs rally on Greek bourse
• Egypt to compensate Greeks who lost fortunes
• Travel tourism conference begins today
• Weather
• Foreign exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

A seven-member interparty parliamentary delegation leaves for Tirana today to act as observers in general elections in the neighbouring country on Sunday.

For the same reason, four Greek Eurodeputies will travel to Albania. Ruling PASOK party deputy Eleftherios Veryvakis will be going to Albania as an observer with the Council of Europe.

Meanwhile, seven coaches carrying Albanian nationals intending to vote in Sunday's poll left for Albania yesterday from the northern port city of Thessaloniki.

The coaches were carrying almost 300 people but authorities say the number of those returning to vote has been small, probably due to the fear of attack from the armed gangs roaming the Albanian countryside.

Greek ethnic leaders in Albania kidnapped as violence continues

Reports from the Albanian city of Gjirocaster yesterday said that Theodoros Bezianis, the former president of the local branch of the ethnic Greek "Omonia" party had been kidnapped near his village of Frastani.

The circumstances of the kidnapping were not immediately clear. Mr. Beziani's daughter, who is standing for election in Sunday's poll as a candidate for the Human Rights Party, insisted that the kidnapping was politically motivated.

Mr. Bezianis, an American citizen, is one of five ethnic Greeks imprisoned in Albania in 1994 on charges of espionage and weapons possession after a gunman killed two Albanian soldiers in a conscript camp near the border.

Their arrest and conviction in August 1994 rekindled a simmering feud between Athens and Tirana over the human rights of the ethnic Greek minority in southern Albania, estimated by Athens at 400,000.

Albanian President Sali Berisha released one of the five on Christmas Eve 1994 and the remaining four - on appeal to Albania's Supreme Court - had their sentences reduced or suspended.

Mr. Bezianis's daughter said her father had been receiving threatening phone calls for the last few days to withdraw his candidacy. Her brother Costas Bezianis is the proprietor of the largest soft drink bottling plant in southern Albania and has also been the target of threats and attacks.

A later report from Ioannina said another ethnic Greek Albanian, Vassilis Kremydas, the president of the Examilia community and brother-in-law of the former president of "Omonia" Sotiris Kyriazatis, had been kidnapped by armed men in Sarande.

The report said the kidnappers had asked for a ransom of 40 million drachmas by today or Mr. Kremydas would be killed.

Premier confident of successful Athens 2004 bid

Prime Minister Costas Simitis said yesterday he was convinced that Athens had a great possibility of succeeding in its bid to host the 2004 Olympic Games, after being briefed on the Greek capital's candidacy by Athens 2004 committee president Yianna Angelopoulou-Daskalaki.

Mr. Simitis expressed complete satisfaction at the efforts so far of the "Athens 2004" bid committee and Angelopoulou-Daskalaki, in particular, following the briefing at the committee's headquarters at Zappeion Hall.

"We have a very good chance of being selected to stage the Games, because of the excellent infrastructure, but also because we are proposing a different spirit for the Olympics. We do not want them to be a strictly athletic event, but rather a cultural event which highlights peace and friendship between peoples," Mr. Simitis said.

Noting that Greece had great experience in staging major sports events, Mr. Simitis said the hosting in Athens of the World Athletics Championship in August would serve as a general test.

Replying to questions which have been aired concerning the cost of staging the Games, the premier stressed that it was an issue which could be "dealt with."

"We spend a great deal of money to promote our country with regard to tourism," he noted.

Mr. Simitis also expressed the view that the staging of the Olympics could help Greece in its national issues.

"There are always hotbeds of crisis, particularly in the Balkans. We can project the spirit of Olympism as a means of promoting peace and cooperation among peoples. Greece confronts all problems with a peaceful approach," Mr. Simitis said, expressing th e hope that Athens would eventually be chosen.

EU socialist finance ministers weekend meeting in Athens

Socialist finance ministers from European Union member-states meet in Athens this weekend to discuss strengthening the social state, accelerating growth and boosting employment in the EU.

The meeting, organised by National Economy and Finance Minister Yiannos Papantoniou will be attended by Prime Minister Costas Simitis.

The meeting will be held with the participation of British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, French Finance Minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Portuguese Finance Minister Antonio de Sousa-Franco, Italian Finance Minister Vincenzo Visco and Finnish

Finance Minister Arja Alho as well as former Swedish finance minister Kjell- Olof Feldt and former Irish finance minister and leader of the Irish Labour Party, Ruari Quinn.

Former European Commission president Jacques Delors will also participate at the meeting.

The focus of the meeting will be to find a clear socialist economic and social policy which will fall in line with the EMU and the single European currency while boosting growth and restricting unemployment. European Socialists have been calling for bet ter coordination of EU economic policies through a political body which would be enhanced with the jurisdiction to consult with the European Central Bank, in an effort to put growth under political control and not in the hands of bankers and technocrats.

The meeting will also be attended by European officials, including the president of the European Committee of the German Parliament, the president of the Socialists in the Parliament of Luxembourg, an Austrian Socialist Party representative responsible for economic issues, the vice-president of the European Parliament and economic experts.

Ecumenical Patriarch opens International environmental seminar

Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos opened an international ecological seminar entitled "Environment and Justice" on the island of Halki yesterday, despite attempts by Turkish police to obstruct the ceremony. Local police reportedly tried to deny permission for the seminar, and created problems during the inauguration ceremony.

The annual seminar falls under the aegis of the Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in his capacity as honorary president of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

The seminar, which will last four days, aims to promote environmental awareness and social responsibility for world leaders.

Speakers and visitors include clergy, professors, politicians, representatives of the European Commission and other agencies.

Messages have been conveyed to the seminar by US President Bill Clinton, European Commission President Jacques Santer, Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, Prince Philip and others.

Australian foreign minister in Athens today

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer arrives in Athens today for talks with President Kostis Stephanopoulos and Alternate Foreign Minister George Papandreou, the Australian Embassy announced yesterday. It said that Mr. Downer would also be having talks with other government officials on bilateral relations.

Gov`t announces more centres for drug prevention

Replying to questions on the occasion of International Drug Prevention Day, government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said another 26 centres will be created throughout the country to contribute towards preventing drug abuse.

In another development, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) launched a new attack against Alternate Foreign Minister George Papandreou, who in an interview yesterday, said people who are already users of hashish should be given the possibility to cultivate the drug for their own exclusive use.

Replying to questions on Mr. Papandreou's views, Mr. Reppas said George Papandreou expressed his personal positions, adding that the government's positions are known.

Bulgarian president in Athens next week

Bulgarian President Petar Stoyanov will pay an official visit to Greece on July 2-4, the Bulgarian presidency announced yesterday. Mr. Stoyanov will hold talks with President Kostis Stephanopoulos, Prime Minister Costas Simitis and Parl iament President Apostolos Kaklamanis. He will also visit Thessaloniki and the monastic community of Mt. Athos.

Mortgage Bank focuses on services for Greek expatriates

The National Mortgage Bank of Greece will pay more attention to Greek customers and investors living outside Greece, with a number of specially designed programmes and banking products.

Mortgage Bank Governor Vassilis Rapanos announced the focus on expatriates while on a visit to Toronto yesterday for contacts with the area's ethnic Greeks.

The visit also coincides with the bank's 70th anniversary.

A bank delegation visited Montreal and Quebec last Monday and briefed Greek community representatives on the bank's new products. Mortgage Bank officials stressed that as part of its re-organisation, the bank has been considering the creation of a speci al department to cater for the specific needs of its overseas customers.

Greenpeace congratulates gov't over solar power plant decision

Prime Minister Costas Simitis yesterday received a letter of congratulations from Greenpeace International chief Thilo Bode.

In his letter to the Greek premier, Mr. Bode referred to the positive measures taken by the government on the improvemnt of renewable energy sources and especially the building of the world's largest solar photovoltic electric power plant on Crete. The Greenpeace official described the power plant as a unique, historical achievement.

He said that in view of the Kyoto meeting, next December, it was vitally important for governments to be able to implement a series of alternative practices in the efforts to reduce emissions agravating the greenhouse effect.

Finally, Mr Bode called on Greece to continue playing a leading role in solar systems, taking advantage of the economic benefits involved in investments and new job positions.

Profit-taking curbs rally on Greek bourse

A wave of profit-taking focused in the banking sector halted a two-day rally of prices on the Athens Stock Exchange although traders said a trend towards recovery remained unchanged.

The general index closed at 1,530.34 points, down 0.86 percent, reflecting losses in the banking sector, off 1.82 percent. Trading was extremely heavy with turnover at 40.8 billion drachmas.

Other sectors ended mixed. Insurance rose 2.88 percent, Leasing increased 0.24 percent, Investment ended 0.09 percent up, Industrials were 0.91 percent higher, Construction rose 0.81 percent, Holding fell 1.68 percent and Miscellaneous dropped 1.12 perc ent. The Parallel Market index eased 0.41 percent.

Shares of Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation (OTE) again lost ground to end at 6,300, off 150 drachmas.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 123 to 92 with another 32 issues unchanged.

Papoutsanis, Etem, Interinvest and National Insurance scored the biggest percentage gains, while Bank of Central Greece, Elviemek and Lampsa suffered the heaviest losses.

National Bank of Greece ended at 34,400 drachmas, Ergobank at 16,800, Alpha Credit Bank at 18,950, Titan at 12,890 and Intracom at 12,525 drachmas.

Egypt to compensate Greeks who lost fortunes

Bilateral relations were reviewed during a Greek-Egyptian relations symposium organised by the Commerce and Industry Chamber of Athens (EBEA) and the Greek-Egyptian friendship association in Athens.

The seminar focused on trade between the two countries, Egyptian investments in Greece, the creation of joint ventures between Greek and Egyptian businesses, and cooperation in the banking sector.

Egypt's ambassador in Athens Samir Self El Yazal said Cairo was willing to compensate Greek-Egyptians who lost their fortunes when they fled from Egypt several decades ago.

He also noted problems standing in the way of closer relations, in particular obtaining visas for Egyptians. Greek and Egyptian businessmen held several meetings during the seminar.

Travel tourism conference begins today

More than 300 British reporters, writers and businessmen active in the tourism sector will participate in an annual conference of the Institute of Travel and Tourism (ITT) starting at the Astir Hotel in Vouliagmeni this morning and lasting until Sunday.

Among others, addresses will be made by British Trade Undersecretary Nigel Griffiths responsible for competition and consumer issues , Greek Tourist Organisation (EOT) Secretary-General Nikos Skoulas, tour operators and other specialists on tourist issues.

WEATHER

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

(C.E.)

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