Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-10-10

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

CONTENTS

[01] Greek FM calls for terrorist actions to be stripped from religious

[02] Weather Forecast: Sunny on Thursday

[03] Visa 'smart cards' due to hit the market in 2002

[04] New website for military service issues

[05] Indicative fuel prices: stabilisation

[01] Greek FM calls for terrorist actions to be stripped from religious pretexts

ISTANBUL (ANA A. Kourkoulas) - Every religious morality pretext should be stripped from the protagonists of terrorism, Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou said during a press conference here on Wednesday.

The cooperation of religious leaders is especially important in order to show that these conflicts are not of a religious nature, he said during the press conference held after his meeting with Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos.

The Orthodox prelate on the same day called for an international conference amongst the leaders of the worlds major faiths, as an international crisis continues to percolate following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States and subsequent military action in Afghanistan. Vartholomeos is the ?Primus inter pares? among Orthodox Patriarchs representing approximately 250 million Eastern Orthodox faithful around the world.

Papandreou also noted that the current international situation, as well as intra-religious cooperation can bring Greece and Turkey closer.

Responding to questions by the Turkish press he noted that both the Greek and Turkish parliaments ratified the special agreement between the two countries for the confrontation of terrorism, which in turn will further develop cooperation between the two countries.

"In combating terrorism we should not neglect the protection of the basic values of our society and the protection of important human rights," Papandreou said.

"I came here (Istanbul) to seek the advice of the Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos in confronting today's crisis," he said, adding that the "Ecumenical Patriarchate was always in the front lines of efforts, so that religions would not provide alibis for terrorist movements and nationalist violence".

At this point the Greek minister spoke of the Bosphorous Declaration of 1994, which was signed by the leaders of the three major monotheistic religions - Christianity, Judaism and Islam - at the initiative of Vartholomeos.

"We condemn every attempt to corrupt the basic characteristics of our faith, through unchecked nationalism," the declaration read and also condemned "every policy that violates the holyness of human life and moral values".

The Greek minister said that he would brief the European Union's Commission President Romano Prodi on his talks in the Fanar and would call on him to have the EU support the initiatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which could lead to the organization of a major intra-religious meeting.

Papandreou also noted Greece's effort to revive the ancient idea of the Olympic Truce, stressing that Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem signed a relevant protocol recently and the United States Congress and the European Union summit in Nice also adopted the idea, which Pope John Paul II also joined.

[02] Weather Forecast: Sunny on Thursday

Scattered cloud in most parts of Greece on Thursday. Light northerly winds in western Greece, northerly moderate winds in the east turning to gale force in the Aegean. In the north, temperatures will range from 13C to 26C, in the west from 16C to 29C and in the rest of the country from 18C to 28C. Sunny in Athens, some cloud in the north and east of Attica prefecture, with temperatures between 18C and 28C. Scattered cloud in Thessaloniki with temperatures from 16C to 25C.

[03] Visa 'smart cards' due to hit the market in 2002

A new generation of 'smart cards' that will replace current Visa cards for all credit and cash transactions, are to be introduced in Greece at the start of 2002, a spokesman for Visa Hellassaid in Athens on Wednesday.

Eurobank Cards managing director Georgios Alvertis, also on the board of Visa Hellas, said the new cards using chip technology instead of the familiar magnetic strip would gradually replace all current credit, debit and cash cards and could be used in a greater number of ways.

[04] New website for military service issues

The army general staff on Wednesday announced that a new Internet site is being set up to inform Greek citizens, especially expatriates, over issues related to military conscription.

The new Internet site, www.stratologia.gr, is expected to be up and running within the next few days.

The site was announced during a press conference in Athens also attended by Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos.

[05] Indicative fuel prices: stabilisation

Suggested retail fuel prices for the coming week showed signs of stabilising on Wednesday, with petrol prices showing a slight decline and diesel prices a slight rise.

Specifically, prices for super petrol dropped by 0.9 drachmas per litre and prices for unleaded petrol fell by 0.8 drachmas per litre. Prices for diesel, conversely, rose by 0.7 drachmas per litre and prices for heating oil were unchanged.

In the greater Athens area and Thessaloniki prefecture, indicative prices for super now stand at 232.5 drachmas per litre (?0.68); 218.7 (?0.64) for unleaded; 204.4 (?0.60) for diesel and 194 (?0.57) drachmas per litre for heating oil.

The government announces indicative prices every Wednesday, effective for one week, although deviations in actual market prices sometimes vary from five to 15 drachmas per litre. (The fixed exchange rate for drachmas/euros is 340.750 drachmas per euro)

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