Athens News Agency: News in English, 03-01-02

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

CONTENTS

[01] Athens Stock Exchange opening: Marginal rise

[02] FM Papandreou outlines aims of Greece's EU presidency in a message

[03] Investigation in three drug deaths at main prison concluded

[04] Weather Forecast: Cloud & rain expected on Thursday

[01] Athens Stock Exchange opening: Marginal rise

Equities were rising marginally at the opening of the trading session Thursday on the Athens Stock Exchange, with the general share price index up 0.03 per cent at 11:15 a.m., standing at 1,748.89 points, and turnover at 2.6 million euros, or 890 million drachma.

Individual sector indices were moving mostly upward, with the biggest gains in Publishing, up 1.66 percent; Mining & Cements, up 1.16 percent; and IT, up 1.11 percent; and losses in Insurance, down 0.59 percent; and Investments, down 0.56 percent.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks was down 0.04 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index was up 0.43 percent, and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index was up 0.55 percent.

Of the stocks moved, 111 were up, 35 were down, and 28 were unchanged.

[02] FM Papandreou outlines aims of Greece's EU presidency in a message

Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou, in a message on the occasion of Greece's assumption of the European Union's rotating six-month presidency on Wednesday, January 1, said the aims of the Greek presidency comprised of a Europe as a community of values, with the role of a stabilising factor in regional crises and an equal partner with the United States and with a strong and competitive economy.

In his message on Tuesday, the foreign minister stressed that Greece looked forward with optimism in the implementation of the above mentioned targets and assumes the EU presidency with confidence in its abilities, with great experience from its participation in European developments, but also from a stronger position compared to the past.

Papandreou said Greece's aim was to promote and strengthen European community values, Europe's democracy, civil and social rights, employment, solidarity, peace, security and prosperity, and Europe as a factor of international stability and as an equal partner with the U.S. in the settlement of international problems.

The minister also linked Greece's assumption of the EU presidency with the current international conjucture. He noted the EU, with the enlargement, ''should not create new divisions but we should continue the effort for the creation of firm bonds with all the European countries which look forward to the EU, strengthen our relations with the other countries of the Mediterranean, Caucasus and Russia.''

Papandreou further determined specifically the regions where the EU could constitute a stabilising factor, promoting, as he said, peace and international legality in the Middle East and Iraq and contributing to the confrontation of international terrorism but also the root causes which stoke it.

The minister said ''we want an EU with a strong presence in international developments, with a role and voice, on an equal basis with our strategic partner, the United States, with a strong and competitive economy which will utilise the new technologies and the society of information for economic development and employment, to the benefit of the European citizens.''

[03] Investigation in three drug deaths at main prison concluded

An investigation into the deaths of three female inmates at the womens wing of Greeces largest penitentiary on Tuesday, was concluded late Tuesday night as investigators announced that the women died of drug overdoses in all three instances.

Apparently, the three women died when they mixed alcohol, prescription drugs and heroine pills given to them by an inmate. Following the investigation Sofia Maria Bakea was charged for selling the heroine pills and her mother Dora Carmen Vajiaba was arrested for smuggling the pills into the prison.

In all, five inmates used the dangerous cocktail, but two survived, as one threw up and the other fell into comma but was rushed to the local hospital where she received the necessary treatment and is out of danger.

On Tuesday morning, a guard found the bodies of the three women in their group cell as a fourth was shouting wildly.

The victims were identified as Maria Mihail, 19; Dimitra Hatzidimitriou, 42; and Aleka Voulgari, 22. All three had prior drug offence convictions, according to reports.

The victims were housed in the same wing -- at Korydallos Prison in southwest Athens -- as are several suspected ?November 17? terrorists.

[04] Weather Forecast: Cloud & rain expected on Thursday

Cloud and rain are forecast for most parts of the country on Thursday, while in western and northern Greece and in the islands of the eastern Aegean and the Dodecanese, storms are expected. Winds northerly, strong to very strong, turning gale force in the southern Aegean. In the north temperatures will range from 02C to 10C; in the Ionian islands and in the rest of mainland Greece from 07C to 15C; and in the Aegean islands from 09C to 16C. Cloudy in Athens with rain later on in the day and temperatures between 09C and 14C. Same in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from 05C to 10C.

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