Athens News Agency: News in English, 02-05-02

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

CONTENTS

[01] Traffic dept anticipates 2002 Easter exodus will be the largest in

[02] PM Simitis arrives in Rhodes for Easter

[03] Ecumenical Patriarch says ''enough is enough'' in Nativity Church

[04] Greek stocks end flat in ASE

[01] Traffic dept anticipates 2002 Easter exodus will be the largest in years

Emergency measures were taken on roads leading out of Athens on Thursday to facilitate the mass exodus by Athenians for the Easter holiday, which is expected to be the largest in several years.

Attica's traffic police said that up to 40 per cent more cars are expected to pass through national highway toll posts than last year, while the Athenians' departure to the countryside is expected to end on Friday evening.

They have assigned an extra lane to outgoing traffic on both national highways and are planning additional measures at junctions where traffic is known to build up.

Traffic police on the ground will be assisted by a helicopter in the air, which will fly above the national highways and inform ground forces of potential trouble spots.

Apart from the roads, Piraeus port authorities have reported that passenger traffic is double that of last year, with 36 ferry routes planned on Thursday compared to 29 on Wednesday. Passengers were up 40 per cent and vehicles up 50 per cent, they said.

A total of 120,000 passengers have departed from Piraeus since last Saturday and a further 18,000 from the port of Rafina, while the overall increase relative to last year is 55 per cent.

Similar increases in passenger numbers have been reported by inter-city bus cooperatives, who have decided to add extra services to deal with the increased passenger load, while additional flights have also been scheduled at Athens airport. Olympic Airways has announced, meanwhile, that seats for nearly all domestic destinations and many flights abroad have run out.

[02] PM Simitis arrives in Rhodes for Easter

Prime Minister Costas Simitis and his wife Daphne on Thursday evening arrived on the Dodecanese island of Rhodes where they will spend Easter.

On arrival at Rhodes' ''Diagoras'' airport, Simitis made the following statement:''I come to Rhodes for Easter with great joy because Rhodes is one of the most beautiful islands, but is also an island where border tradition shows how we can deal with the region's problems and how we can promote Greece in a world which presents many problems and many difficulties, but where we promote firmly peace and cooperation.''

[03] Ecumenical Patriarch says ''enough is enough'' in Nativity Church standoff

ISTANBUL (ANA - A. Kourkoulas) - Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Vartholomeos said on Thursday, referring to ongoing violence in the Middle East ''enough is enough.''

''We express our deepest sorrow and disappointment because today, in the heart of Easter Week, instead of peace in the Holy Land new conflicts are taking place at the Church of the Nativity of our Lord in Bethlehem,'' the Patriarch stressed.

He called on all sides to respect the ''sanctity of those places and the sanctity of these days. To respect the religious feelings of the Christians to be able to demand respect for their own religion and their holy places''.

[04] Greek stocks end flat in ASE

Greek stocks ended Thursday's session flat reflecting lack of fresh incentives and directions in the Athens Stock Exchange.

The general index was unchanged from Wednesday's close at 2,218.37 points, with turnover a low 66.1 million euros.

The Retail, Investment and Holding sectors suffered the heaviest percentage losses (1.47 percent, 0.53 percent and 0.45 percent, respectively), while the Publication, Construction and Metal sectors scored the biggest percentage gains (1.58 percent, 0.81 percent and 0.58 percent, respectively).

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks fell 0.24 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index rose 0.44 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index ended 0.35 percent higher.

Broadly, advancers led decliners by 164 to 135 with another 49 issues unchanged.

The Athens bourse will remain closed until Tuesday, May 7. It will reopen on Wednesday, May 8.

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