Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-09-16

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

CONTENTS

[01] Papandreou meets Peres, presses for resumption of Mideast talks

[02] Arafat says ready to meet with Peres; contacts with Greek FM

[03] Moderate quake rattles SW Peloponnese

[04] US embassy: NJ suspects unrelated to terrorist attacks

[01] Papandreou meets Peres, presses for resumption of Mideast talks

JERUSALEM (ANA I. Afendouli) Both the Israeli and Palestinian side desired a resumption of peace talks, Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou said on Sunday, immediately after a meeting in Jerusalem with his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres.

The meeting with Peres came just hours after the Israeli government cancelled a meeting between Peres and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on that day - a decision that Peres disagreed with and which triggered a crisis in the Israeli government.

Prior to his meeting with Peres, Papandreou had also met with Arafat, who afterwards said he was ready to return to the negotiating table with Peres at any time.

The Greek minister also expressed the view that the worldwide situation immediately after the tragedy in the United States created better conditions for dealing with the Middle East crisis.

On the other hand, he added, the difficulties should not be underestimated, as demonstrated by the cancelled Peres-Arafat meeting.

Regarding the fight against terrorism, Papandreou said there had been convergence of views with the Israeli side regarding methods.

"We agreed that the problem was very complex, related to inequalities and problems that exist in many parts of the planet, and that purely military solutions, even though they seem necessary at this time, cannot deal with the problem at its root," he said.

Yasser Arafat had also expressed readiness to fight terrorism during their earlier meeting, Papandreou said, having become the target of extremist groups on the Palestinian side who disagreed with his policies.

Arafat had reiterated on Sunday that last weeks unprecedented ?air terror attacks? in Manhattan and Washington constituted a ?crime against humanity and stressed that both he and the Palestinian administration were unequivocally against all terrorist action".

Lastly, the Greek minister said that he had discussed the Middle East crisis with his US counterpart Colin Powell over the phone on Saturday, as well as conveying the anguish of the Greek government over the attacks in the US. He said he would convey the results of his meetings in Jerusalem to Washington and European Union governments.

Earlier, Papandreou had announced that each of the 15 EU member-states' foreign ministers would be visiting the Middle East to press for a resumption of peace talks.

Papandreou was in the Holy Land over the weekend to attend the enthronement of the new Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Irineos I.

[02] Arafat says ready to meet with Peres; contacts with Greek FM

JERUSALEM (ANA) Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat reiterated on Sunday that last weeks unprecedented ?air terror attacks? in Manhattan and Washington constitute a ?crime against humanity?.

In receiving visiting Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou in the Gaza Strip, Arafat also stressed that both he and the Palestinian administration he leads are unequivocally against any terrorist action.

Papandreou, who arrived in the Holy Land over the weekend to attend the installation of a new Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem (Irineos I) along with a high-ranking Greek state delegation, is scheduled to meet with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres later in the afternoon, only hours after the Israeli government announced on Sunday that it does not desire a resumption of peace talks with the Palestinian side at this point.

Conversely, Arafat told reporters after his half-hour morning meeting with the Greek FM that hes ready to sit down at the negotiating table with Peres at any time, and at a mutually agreed to location.

In response to a press question, the veteran Palestinian leader said the prospect of holding such a meeting in Athens was also discussed.

On his part, Papandreou stressed that he is not only visiting the Palestinian self-rule areas as Greeces foreign minister but also as a friend of the Palestinian people and on behalf of the European Union.

Based on a recent decision taken by the EUs foreign ministers, Papandreou said, each of the 15 member-states foreign ministers would alternately visit the Middle East to press for a resumption of the peace talks process. As it turned out, Papandreou inaugurated the EU initiative.

Finally, he again voiced the European Unions position that violence should be stopped and that the two sides meet as soon as possible.

In reiterating his stern condemnation of the shocking terrorist attacks in the US, Papandreou noted that the Sept. 11 tragedy should impel all opposing sides in the Mideast to seek a peaceful resolution to the regions problem.

[03] Moderate quake rattles SW Peloponnese

A 5.2 on the Richter scale earthquake jolted Messinia prefecture in southwestern Greece early Sunday morning, with damages to mostly older, stone-built homes and buildings reported in several villages.

The quake was recorded at 5:01 a.m. with an epicentre some 180 kilometres southwest of Athens, and 30 kilometres north of the Peloponnese port city of Kalamata.

No injuries had been reported by presstime.

Communities where damages were reported include Zevgolatio, Meropi, Matzari, Malta, Polyhni, Kalliroi, Oihalia and Loutro. Churches in the latter two villages were also damaged, reports state.

A delegation from the town planning and public works ministry was dispatched to the scene.

[04] US embassy: NJ suspects unrelated to terrorist attacks

US law enforcement agencies clarified over the past 24 hours that the arrest of three men in Elizabeth, New Jersey on Thursday is "totally unrelated" to the unprecedented terrorist attacks in New York and Washington two days earlier, a press release issued by the US embassy's public affairs office stated here on Sunday.

At the time of the arrests, according to US law enforcement officials, one of three men detained had in his possession a stolen Greek passport. However, none of the three men is a Greek citizen.

The three were arrested by local police in New Jersey and are currently being held by the US immigration and naturalization service on suspicion of immigration fraud.

In local press reports on Sunday, meanwhile, an Athens man whose passport was found on one of the three suspects, said his travel document was stolen from his vehicle last year in the Porto Rafti resort area of eastern Attica. Additionally, he said the theft was declared the same day at the Porto Rafti police precinct.

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