The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 10-06-02

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From: The Hellenic Radio (ERA) <www.ert.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] More Street Protest against Israeli Raid

After the Israeli deadly raid against Gaza aid flotilla, the blockade of the Gaza Strip has assumed new dimensions. Greece could not be excluded from worldwide outcry, as a new street protest meaning to express the Greeks' solidarity with the people of Gaza will be held on Thursday. In the meantime, a C-130 aircraft of the Greek Air Force carrying the Greek activists who had been detained in Israel is expected to land in Athens late on Wednesday.

The first Greek activists to be released had signed a document written in the Israeli language reading they admitted that the effort to carry humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip constituted an infiltration to the Israeli ground.

Succumbing to international pressures, Israel removed the above claim.

Street Protest in Athens

A demonstration against the Israeli raid has been scheduled for 3 June in central Athens. Similar demonstrations will take place in other Greek cities, as well.

Source: ANA News item: 37237

[02] ERTonline Won't Be Updated on Thursday

ERTonline won't be update on 3 June due to the 24-hour nationwide strike announced by the media workers, including the journalists. The strike came as a reaction to the new austerity measures and the pension reforms.

News item: 37234

[03] Final Touches to the Pension Reform

The final touches to the pension reforms are to be decided in the coming days, with the insured expressing their grave concerns over the developments and the government trying to smooth the tough terms included in the agreement signed with the EU, the IMF and the ECB. The troika insists basic pension not exceed 48%, and full pension be given after 40 years of contributions.

Comments by G. Petalotis

In his statements, government spokesman Giorgos Petalotis said:

"Everything that is included in the agreement is valid. With regard to any improvements, we have to wait for the pension bill to be submitted. What we [the government] are trying to do, under the present conditions, is to have as much socially fair pension is possible. What has been agreed is valid. Some points need to be clarified further. We are in the middle of it. We dare to have a pension system. Had the government not opened the issue to avoid the political cost, there would be no pensions, nor health care system. We are defending and cementing all the above. We are doing everything to achieve the best possible results."

Source: NET, NET 105.8 News item: 37232

[04] Denationalizations Okayed

The inner cabinet meeting chaired Wednesday by Prime Minister George Papandreou decided to open the denationalization process, with a view to earning about 1 billion euros per year in the 2011-2013 period.

Finance Minister Giorgos Papakonstantinou assured that the state's participation in organizations, including OTE, PPC and OPAP, won't be decreased. He then stressed, "The government does not mean to sell out, but to exploit in the best possible manner the national wealth to the benefit of the country's economy and people."

Government spokesman Giorgos Petalotis hailed the issues discussed at the inner cabinet meeting as pivotal issue that mean to signal major changes in the state, growth and society.

News item: 37214

[05] Flotilla Activists Deported from Israel

Israel said it would complete Wednesday the deportation of all the pro-Palestinian activists seized in its raid on a Gaza aid flotilla and vowed to stop other ships from reaching the Hamas-run enclave.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu planned to make a television address at 8 p.m. (1700 GMT) amid world outrage over the deaths of nine people and international calls for an impartial investigation.

Turkey, which has recalled its ambassador from Israel, demanded that it lift its blockade of Gaza as a condition of restoring full ties.

"The future of ties with Israel will depend on the attitude of Israel," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak visited commandos who took part in Monday's raid and told them: "I came in the name of the Israeli government to say thank you."

Israel said it would deport by the end of the day all 682 activists from more than 35 countries detained after the assault in international waters on six aid ships bound for Gaza, where Hamas Islamists opposed to Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas hold sway.

Some of the activists were expelled via Ben-Gurion airport near Tel Aviv while others passed through a border crossing into neighboring Jordan.

Praising naval commandos for an operation that Israeli military affairs commentators have described as bungled, Barak said at the marines' base near the port of Haifa that they had carried out their mission under difficult circumstances.

Israel said the marines who rappelled onto the Turkish vessel Mavi Marmara, where most of the violence took place, fired in self-defense after activists attacked them with clubs, knives and two pistols snatched from the boarding party.

Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai told parliament that two of the activists killed during the takeover were shot after they used the two handguns to wound two commandos.

Source: Reuters News item: 37209

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