He stressed that he will press more charges and submit more suits and observed: "Beginning today, I will stop dealing with Mr. Kouris. We all know he is a common slanderer. I will not discuss anything with him. Anything that he has to say, he can say it here, in court, Mr. Kouris will be brought here, to prison."

Mr. Protopapas pointed out that last night he had a long discussion with Prime Minister Costas Simitis, concerning the case of the "Avriani's" publications.

As was announced by the Thessaloniki Undercover Direction, the 5 suspects arrested - 3 men and 2 women - are an "offshoot" of the international drug trafficking ring based in Sadanski and run by a man known both to Greek and Bulgarian authorities for his

activity, Vasil Manikatov.

A police officer who approached them as a buyer, spoke with him over the telephone and agreed to buy 100 grams of cocaine for 4,500 euro. As was expected, Manikatov himself did not turn up at the rendezvous. Instead he sent his Bulgarian accessory, M.D. from Pernik, Bulgaria, who was arrested.

According to the police, they then located the rest of the ring members, while they confiscated 237 grams of cocaine, 39 grams of heroin, 2 counterfeit 200 euro bills, one forged passport, and money originating from drug sales.

Police authorities are continuing their investigations, as undercover police officers appreciated that there are possibly more people involved in the drug trafficking operation.

The Ecumenical Patriarch will be greeted at the "Eleftherios Venizelos" airport by the Archbishop of Athens and all of Greece, Christodoulos. They will then have a meeting at the Mansion of the Holy Archbishopric of Athens.

Participants in the Conference include heads of Orthodox Churches, other dogma representatives, Metropolites of the Church of Greece, EuroMPs and representatives of the European Parliament and political bodies.

Of the stocks trading today, 121 recorded gains and 182 had losses, while the value of 55 stocks remained unchanged.

In statements he made to reporters, Mr. Hitiris underlined that the Prime Minister will not proceed with a government reshuffle and is firm to his positions expressed last Monday, before his tour of northern European capitals, when he issued a strong war ning that the government defends legality and transparency.

The Undersecretary clarified that the creation of a waiting atmosphere in the public opinion is a mistake and underlined that Mr. Simitis will not allow others to determine the government's decisions, programs and priorities.

He also reminded that orders have been given to every direction to check if legality and transparency are observed.

The march to the Turkish consulate that takes place every year was cancelled because the event coincided with Holy Thursday of the Christian Orthodox Easter. After the memorial service held for the genocide victims, an Armenian Youth delegation delivered

a protest memorandum to the Turkish consulate calling on Turkey to acknowledge and condemn the Armenian genocide it committed in 1915 and assume its responsibilities. Also, return to the Armenian people the territories it occupies illegally, change its s tance on the Nagorno Karabach issue, lift the isolation imposed on the Republic of Armenia, stop arming Azerbaidjan and contribute to the initiatives for a fair and viable solution to the issue of Nagorno Karabach.

The issues under discussion will be bilateral cooperation issues (the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, as well as trade, investments, energy, drug, immigration and refugee issues). The two sides will also discuss issues concerning terrorism, disarmament,

human rights, cultural dialogue and regional issues (Iraq, the Middle East, Afghanistan, Caucasus, Caspian Sea, Central Asia, and developments in the EU and the Balkans).

The conference, held under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Development and the Greek-Turkish Chamber of Commerce, is expected to be organized every year to Greece and Turkey alternately.

Greek and Turkish specialists will present issues concerning natural gas, electricity, oil as well as, market regulation and legislation issues. It is estimated that the conference participants will introduce a total of over 20 presentations.