Athens News Agency: News in English, 09-02-03

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

CONTENTS

[01] 14-year-old girl missing

[02] Papandreou goes to Pireaus port

[03] Police, Crete farmers scuffles

[04] ASE opening: Big rise

[01] 14-year-old girl missing

The young girl was on her way to school with her twin sister when she left, without stating any reason.

According to a local intercity (KTEL) bus employee, the girl bought a ticket for Thessaloniki.

Police investigations have been fruitless thus far.

According to authorities, the girl was healthy and was not facing family or psychological problems.

[02] Papandreou goes to Pireaus port

Papandreou, in a brief statement due to the tear gas in the atmosphere and prevailing tension, characterised the conditions as unacceptable and condemned the government's stance on the farmers.

The PASOK leader left the port shortly afterwards, due to the tense situation.

[03] Police, Crete farmers scuffles

The scuffles ensued after a second group of Cretan farmers arrived in Piraeus, Greece's busiest port, to join a first group that had arrived the preceding day.

A first group of 1,100 protesting farmers arrived in Piraeus from Crete early Monday morning with scores of pick-up trucks and a few dozen tractors, and disembarked from three ferry boats arriving from the large Aegean island in order to hold a protest in front of the agriculture ministry in downtown Athens, but were blocked from leaving the port by MAT police using teargas, resulting in tension and scuffles.

Tempers had eventually died down by around midday Monday, with the farmers penned into the port by 11 squads of riot police and coast guard officers. They demanded that they either be allowed to take their tractors to the agriculture ministry in order to meet the Agriculture Minister Sotiris Hatzigakis, or that the minister come to the port of Piraeus to hear their demands.

These include a subsidy per tenth of a hectare for potatoes and produce, lower production costs, return of 15 percent VAT, a check on imported products and restructuring of agricultural land and crops. Among their numbers are the three prefects of Crete amd several mayors on the island.

A second group of approximately 100 Cretan farmers arrived in Piraeus on Tuesday morning to join their colleagues, and the port once again resembled a battle field for about 10 minutes as about 150 police officers used teargas to repel the protestors, who were throwing farm products and other objects at them.

Earlier, the coordinating body of the approximately 2,000 farmers, which had been holding an early morning meeting since dawn aboard the ship "Kriti I", decided not reject the government's proposal that a delegation of farmers go to the agriculture ministry for talks, opting to remain in the port.

The farmers also cancelled a planned march to the ministry, in fear of 'foreign elements' possibly 'infiltrating' their march, according to farmers' representatives.

Caption: Farmers from Crete and riot police clash on Monday 2 February 2009 at Piraeus port. ANA-MPA/GIORGOS CHRISTAKIS

[04] ASE opening: Big rise

Individual sector indices were moving upward nearly across the board, with the only losses in Industrial Products, down 0.17 percent.

The biggest gains in Public Utilities, up 2.10 percent; Banks, up 1.67 percent; and Health, up 1.23 percent.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks was up 1.36 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index was up 0.31 percent, and the FTSE/ASE-80 small cap index was up 0.53 percent.

Of the stocks moved, 53 were up, 13 were down, and 36 were unchanged.

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