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Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 98-12-17

Macedonian Press Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.


MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, December 17, 1998

SECTIONS

  • [A] NATIONAL NEWS
  • [B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

  • NEWS HEADLINES

    [A] NATIONAL NEWS

  • [01] GREECE CLOSELY WATCHES DEVELOPMENTS IN PERSIAN GULF
  • [02] GREECE'S STUDENTS WON'T BLINK, WANT EDUCATION REFORM LAW TO SINK
  • [03] PARLIAMENT TO EMBARK ON BUDGET DEBATE TONIGHT
  • [04] EDUCATION MINISTER IS ADAMANT: REFORMS WILL BE ENFORCED
  • [05] GREEK FM POSTPONES VISIT TO PAKISTAN DUE TO HEAVY FOG AT ISLAMABAD
  • [06] GREEK PREMIER'S STATEMENTS OVER THE VIENNA SUMMIT
  • [07] GREECE'S COMMUNIST AND COALITION PARTIES CONDEMN ATTACK ON IRAQ
  • [08] STATE DEPUTY URGES MPs TO CONDEMN OPERATION DESERT FOX
  • [09] GREECE'S "THETA INTERKAT S.A." TO BUILD CUTTING EDGE HOSPITALS IN ALBANIA
  • [10] ÌÏRGAN STANLEY: GREEK BONDS ARE MOST PROFITABLE IN EUROPE
  • [11] BODY OF GIRL WHOSE MOTHER WENT UNDERCOVER TO BE EXHUMED
  • [B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

  • [12] U.S. WILL CONTINUE RAIDS OVER IRAQ
  • [13] US, BRITAIN STRIKE IRAQ, HUSSEIN URGES DEFIANCE
  • [14] OIL PRICES DROP AFTER THE ATTACK ON IRAQ
  • [15] RUSSIA, CHINA AND IRAQ HOLD UN'S BUTLER RESPONSIBLE FOR AIR STRIKES
  • [16] UN SECRETARY-GENERAL EXPRESSES REGRET OVER USE OF FORCE ON IRAQ
  • [17] RUSSIA, FRANCE, INDIA, AFGHANISTAN INDIGNANT OVER RAID ON IRAQ
  • [18] US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES POSTPONES IMPEACHMENT VOTE

  • NEWS IN DETAIL

    [A] NATIONAL NEWS

    [01] GREECE CLOSELY WATCHES DEVELOPMENTS IN PERSIAN GULF

    The Greek government is closely watching the developments in the Persian Gulf and has expressed its hope that the operation Desert Fox will be brief, according to an announcement released this afternoon by the Greek Foreign Ministry.

    Prime Minister Kostas Simitis was briefed on the developments by alternate Foreign Minster George Papandreou and undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Yiannos Kranidiotis. The country's opposition parties have condemned the raids.

    [02] GREECE'S STUDENTS WON'T BLINK, WANT EDUCATION REFORM LAW TO SINK

    High school students throughout Greece have locked their horns with the education ministry and, apparently, neither is about to budge on the issue of academic reforms which are touted by the government but loathed by the youngsters.

    In Thessaloniki, marching students blocked the city's major arteries this morning, disrupting traffic to the center of the city. Meanwhile, Education Minister Gerasimos Arsenis is concerned that the students are misinformed on the proposed changes, but has vowed to proceed with the reform as planned.

    [03] PARLIAMENT TO EMBARK ON BUDGET DEBATE TONIGHT

    The Parliament's plenary session is to embark on a debate over the upcoming year's budget tonight, where the ruling PASOK party will have the opportunity to outline its achievements in the economy sector.

    Prime Minster Kostas Simitis is expected to reiterated that Greece will achieve its EMU-accession target, while the opposition parties will most certainly exert a heavy dose of criticism on the government's policies.

    [04] EDUCATION MINISTER IS ADAMANT: REFORMS WILL BE ENFORCED

    Apparently undaunted by the students' massive protests to his academic reforms, Education Minister Gerasimos Arsenis has reiterated his determination to apply the changes.

    Addressing an event held by the Pedagogical Institute in Athens, Mr. Arsenis said that unionist teachers are responsible for the misleading information given to the students concerning the reforms.

    Meanwhile, Prime Minister Kostas Simitis asked Mr. Arsenis to embark on an information campaign in order to counter the falsehoods circulating about the reforms and to allay the students' fears.

    [05] GREEK FM POSTPONES VISIT TO PAKISTAN DUE TO HEAVY FOG AT ISLAMABAD

    Greece's Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos, who completed his visit to Kuwait yesterday, postponed his subsequent visit to Pakistan due to the heavy fog at Islamabad airport, which prevented his Falcon plane from landing.

    Mr. Pangalos will return to Athens today.

    [06] GREEK PREMIER'S STATEMENTS OVER THE VIENNA SUMMIT

    During his parliamentary address last night, Greece's Prime Minister stated that the country need not be concerned over the Agenda 2000 negotiations, although he advised carefulness.

    Responding to a relevant question posed by a deputy, Mr. Simitis summarized the discussions held during the recent EU Vienna Summit concerning the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and a potential freeze on EU funds.

    He stated that "extreme positions were set out by the Austrian presidency, but they will not be accepted. Our hope is that is that we will achieve satisfactory settlements. We must not be concerned, but we must be very careful in negotiations."

    [07] GREECE'S COMMUNIST AND COALITION PARTIES CONDEMN ATTACK ON IRAQ

    The Communist Party of Greece and the Coalition of Left and Progress have strongly condemned the air strike launched on Iraq during the early morning hours by the United States and Britain.

    The Communist Party issued a statement wherein it dubs the strike as "a gangster-like attack), while the Coalition Party stated that the raid defames the United Nations.

    [08] STATE DEPUTY URGES MPs TO CONDEMN OPERATION DESERT FOX

    The ruling PASOK party's state deputy Paraskevas Paraskevopoulos has undertaken the initiative to collect signatures from other members of the parliament in a statement to be forwarded to the UN secretary general, condemning the strike over Baghdad launched by the United States and Britain early this morning.

    Speaking to the Macedonian Press Agency, Mr. Paraskevopoulos said that the statement will be forwarded to UN chief Kofi Annan and it will request the UN's intervention in order to halt the attack on Iraq.

    Furthermore, Mr. Paraskevopoulos, along with other deputies, will form a protest before the UN's offices in Athens this afternoon.

    Mr. Paraskevopoulos had visited Baghdad last April where, accompanied by PASOK deputy George Katsibardis and Coalition deputy Spyros Danelis, he transported pharmaceutical supplies to the Iraqi people who are tormented by the embargo. Upon returning to Greece, he amassed the signatures of 70 deputies in a statement advocating the lift of the embargo.

    Regarding last night's raid, Mr. Paraskevopoulos said "I condemn the US and British raid over Iraq. It is unacceptable that, under the guise of any whatsoever demands, they violate international law and, more so, attempt to rinse their ‘stains' with innocent blood."

    [09] GREECE'S "THETA INTERKAT S.A." TO BUILD CUTTING EDGE HOSPITALS IN ALBANIA

    Greece's "Theta Interkat S.A." has won the bid to construct two hospitals in Albania, an international tender declared by World Bank, which will also finance the project with five million dollars.

    "Theta" has undertaken the planning and construction of two state-of-the-art hospitals, with approximately one thousand beds, in the cities of Skoder and Vlore.

    The project will get underway in the beginning of 1999 and its completion is targeted for the end of the year.

    [10] ÌÏRGAN STANLEY: GREEK BONDS ARE MOST PROFITABLE IN EUROPE

    Those who invest in Greek bonds are to enjoy the highest returns in 1999 throughout Europe, according to Morgan Stanley, which adds that the Greek bonds are to signficaintly strengthen the domestic stock market as well.

    In its report, Morgan Stanley finds that the Greek economy's upward course is a result of a focused effort to gain accession to the Economic and Monetary Union, a target that has not been swayed by the public's reaction tot he prolonged austerity measures.

    Furthermore, it assesses that Greece's participation in the EMU's third phase is certain, as the Simitis-led government closely follows its economy strategy.

    Lastly, the Morgan Stanley report opines that the government will exhaust its four-year term, in spite of its lagging popularity (according to recent polls).

    [11] BODY OF GIRL WHOSE MOTHER WENT UNDERCOVER TO BE EXHUMED

    The body of 20-year-old Dimitra Psarou -whose mother went undercover as a prostitute in order to prove that her daughter was murdered and did not die of a drug overdose- will be exhumed on Tuesday, a Thessaloniki magistrate has ordered.

    Miss Psarou was discovered dead last June in a derelict building in the city. The coroner who performed the autopsy then reported that the cause of death was a drug overdose. However, her mother, Eleni Fotiadou, upon seeing evident marks of violence on her daughter body and knowing that her daughter was not a drug user, challenged the report and probed into the underworld, befriending junkies and prostitutes for six months before amassing enough information that led to the indictment of eight people on charges of gang rape and murder.

    Mrs. Fotiadou, who was aided by a detective, reportedly has cassette tapes where prostitutes describe the method of murder and name the people who raped and killed her daughter.

    Tuesday's autopsy is to be performed by three coroners.

    [B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

    [12] U.S. WILL CONTINUE RAIDS OVER IRAQ

    In spite of the reactions reverberating throughout the world after last night's surpirse attack on Baghad by the United States and Britain, the US are to continue the air raids (code-named Desert Fox) over Iraq. According to Iraqi news services, the casualties from last night's raid are mounting.

    U.S. President Bill Clinton said that the raids will continue over the next two to three days, awaiting Iraqi President Saddam Husein's reaction.

    [13] US, BRITAIN STRIKE IRAQ, HUSSEIN URGES DEFIANCE

    The United States and Britain conducted an air strike over the Iraqi capital Baghdad during the early morning hours today, just one day before the U.S. House of Representatives had been expected to vote on President Bill Clinton's impeachment over the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

    During a televised address from the Oval office, President Clinton stated "I have ordered a strong, sustained series of air strikes against Iraq," adding that "their mission is to attack Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs and its military capacity to threaten its neighbors.''

    Iraqi President Saddam Husein urged the Iraqi people to show defiance. According to the official Iraqi news agency INA, he stated: "Our great people and our brave armed forces...resist and fight them. Fight the enemies of God, the Arab nation and humanity. God willing, you will be the victors.''

    Greece's Defense Ministry officials stated that they had no prior knowledge of the attacks, adding that no Greek military personnel are involved.

    [14] OIL PRICES DROP AFTER THE ATTACK ON IRAQ

    Amid expectations to the contrary, oil prices dropped after the United States and Britain attacked Iraq early this morning, after a brief increase, as traders on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) were confident that Iraq's 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) of exports would continue.

    Before the attacks began, Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations, Nizar Hamdoon, said that oil exports would have to stop if military strikes were launched. ``Physically speaking, practically speaking, if there is a military strike, there will be no oil pumped,'' Hamdoon said.

    However, the market apparently expected the air strikes to be of short term and did not expect the loading of oil tankers to be halted.

    According to news reports, Taiwan's state owned Chinese Petroleum Corp (CPC) said its crude tanker Isabella was waiting outside the Iraqi Mina al-Bakr port for a scheduled December 20-21 loading.

    [15] RUSSIA, CHINA AND IRAQ HOLD UN'S BUTLER RESPONSIBLE FOR AIR STRIKES

    In an emergency session of the Uniterd Naitons Secxutity Council, summoned by Moscow late last night, Russia, China and Iraq called on the United States and Britain to halt the air strikes over Baghdad.

    Moreover, the three nations expressed personal criticism against the UN's chief weapons inspector Richard Butler whose report on Iraq's lack of compliance with UN's arms inspectors was the basis for the attacks.

    ``I speak to you now as the rockets and bombs are falling over the cities and villages of Iraq,'' Baghdad's U.N. ambassador Nizar Hamdoon told the Security Council.

    Mr. Hamdoon asked the SC to ``fulfill its responsibilities as set forth in the U.N. Charter and request the immediate unconditional cessation of what is underway in Iraq.''

    ``The exaggerated uproar over the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction is nothing but a big lie. The other lie is a claim that Iraq poses a threat to its neighbors,'' he added.

    Russian Ambassador Sergei Lavrov urged that ``an end be immediately put to these acts of military force, that restraint and prudence be demonstrated and no further escalation of the conflict be allowed.''

    ``No one is entitled to act independently on behalf of the United Nations and even less to assume the functions of a world policeman,'' he said.

    Although there were ``certain problems'' regarding cooperation between Iraq and UNSCOM, the current crisis ``was created artificially as a result of the irresponsible acts'' by Mr. Butler, the Russian Ambassador said.

    He said Butler's report gave a ``distorted picture of the real state of affairs'' while he had evacuated UNSCOM staff from Iraq without consulting the Security Council.

    Chinese ambassador Qin Huasun said his country long advocated the peaceful settlement of disputes.

    ``We call upon the United States and the United Kingdom to stop forthwith all military actions against Iraq and to avoid any other acts which may worsen the situation and to return to the path of cooperation and dialogue,'' he said.'

    Mr. Butler had ``played a dishonorable role in this crisis'' while UNSCOM's reports were ``one-sided and evasive of facts. It is difficult for the UNSCOM leader to shirk his responsibility over the current crisis,'' the Chinese Ambassador added.

    [16] UN SECRETARY-GENERAL EXPRESSES REGRET OVER USE OF FORCE ON IRAQ

    The United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan stated that the strikes on Iraq mark "a sad day for the United Nations and for the world".

    In a statement given to reporters prior to an emergency Security Council meeting late last night, Mr. Annan said that "my thoughts tonight are with the people of Iraq and with the 307 United Nations humanitarian workers who remain in the country and with all others whose lives are in dange.,"

    "It is also a very sad day for me personally. Throughout this year, I have done everything in my power to ensure peaceful compliance with Security Council resolutions and to avert the use of force.

    "But all this has not been an easy or painless process. It has required patience, determination and the will to seek peace, even when all signs pointed to war.

    "However daunting the task, the United Nations had to try as long as any hope of peace remained. I deeply regret that today these efforts have proved insufficient.

    "What has happened cannot be reversed nor can any of us foresee the future.

    "All we know is that tomorrow, as yesterday, there will be still an acute need, in Iraq and in the wider region, for both humanitarian relief and healing diplomacy.

    "In both these tasks, the United Nations will be ready, as ever, to play its part," Mr Annan said.

    [17] RUSSIA, FRANCE, INDIA, AFGHANISTAN INDIGNANT OVER RAID ON IRAQ

    Russian President Boris Yeltsin has condemned the United States' and Britain's decsion to launch air strikes over Bagghad early this morning, stating that the move ``crudely violated'' the United Nations charter and was ``fraught with the most dramatic consequences'' for the Gulf region.

    France also strongly condemned the decision to use force, issuing a statement dissociating itself from the action about an hour after the raids began.

    ``France deplores the escalation which led to the American military strikes against Iraq and the grave human consequences which they could have for the Iraqi people,'' the statement read.

    In Afghanistan, the ruling Taliban issued a strong condemnation of the raids. ``We have got children and ordinary people suffering and falling victim to the attack, and it is not acceptable for us because Iraq is an independent and Islamic country,'' senior Taliban spokesman Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil said.

    ``The act is against all international principles and laws. The attack may have a link to the impeachment of Clinton and the U.S. and Britain should stop the attack.'' India said the air strikes undermined the authority of the Security Council. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee stated the attack "raises serious questions regarding the functioning of the collective and consultative procedures of the U.N. Security Council.''

    [18] US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES POSTPONES IMPEACHMENT VOTE

    The United States House of Representatives has decided to postpone their vote on whether or President Bill Clinton's impeachment, originally set for today, after last night's air raid over Iraq.

    The House could be recalled as early as tomorrow, although the postponement has touched off fierce debate as many of Mr. Clinton's opponents have argued that Congress continued its work during the Civil War and elections were still held during World War II.

    In its vote, whenever it will be held, the House will consider four articles of impeachment alleging that President Clinton committed perjury, obstruction of justice and abuse of power in concealing his affair with Monica Lewinsky in civil and criminal proceedings.


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