Serifis confirmed that he had committed the actions he had admitted earlier before a special examining judge but he did not go as far as to accept the charges against him in their entirety. He also reiterated that he is not going to refer to any of his c odefendants.

He admitted that he became a 17N member in 1989 when he placed an explosive device in an abandoned house. He maintained that he stopped any participation in the group in 1990 because even though he was in agreement with its actions he did not take part i n the planning process.

Serifis stated that no one pressured him to become a member of the terrorist group and on the other hand, no one exerted any pressures on him after he left it. He underlined that he never took money from the group and that he did not know where the hideo uts were.

The plan for the biochemical protection of Athens is being described in a top secret document, according to the Athens newspaper "To Vima". To deal with a likely terrorist attack involving biological and chemical weapons is suggested among others that ma ss decontamination systems should be installed in 13 hospitals in the Athens area. Also, special protective uniforms are necessary, collapsible decontamination tanks, portable oxygen supply devices, gas masks and special protective suits for the security personnel.

The cost of the plan is estimated at 28 million euros concerning the equipment supplies and 3 million euros for personnel training.

aimed at drawing up its policy for the period 2004-2008.

According to the Athens newspaper "Ethnos", the main reform suggested for the armed forces is the proposal for the employment of an additional 13.700 professional infantrymen. The goal of this proposal is to cut military service to be less than 12 months .

Mr. Papantoniou in his letter to the Prime Minister mentions that the defense spending cuts release a total of 2.7 billion euros, a sum that can be used to strengthen the development and social policy in 2004.

According to Greek state-run television channel NET, the Australian Foreign Ministry mentions that there is no evidence or information on a likely terrorist attack in Greece, but the Australian government has to protect its nationals anywhere in the worl d.

A similar travel advice is expected to be issued by Australia for Germany, while a travel advice is already in effect for Italy, Spain and France.

The Metropolite, who is temporarily in charge of Thessaloniki's Metropolis, in a letter to Thessaloniki's ITF management, published on the Thessaloniki newspaper "Macedonia", points out that he does not wish to perform the inauguration ceremony because h e believes that the event will be more formal if it is performed by Archbishop Christodoulos.

The arrival of Archbishop Christodoulos to Thessaloniki takes place at a time of a controversy between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Athens Archbishopric on the issue of the election of a new Thessaloniki Metropolite.

The Ecumenical Patriarch expressed the position that the 1928 Patriarchic Act has to be respected and the list with the names of the candidates for the Metropolis of Thessaloniki has to be sent to the Ecumenical Patriarchate for approval.

He called on the court to try him and find him guilty not because of what he did but for what he did not do, namely because he did not stop the activities of the terrorist group. He characterized the 17N as a dogmatic organization and maintained that it constituted a problem for the country's image internationally.

He admitted that he participated in the attempts against prosecutor Kostas Androulidakis and former Finance Minister Yiannis Paleokrassas as well as in a robbery.

The above were stated by Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou pointing out that the Australian side has sent a message to Greece according to which, it should not try to diagnose anything deeper hidden in the travel advice in question given the fact

that similar travel advice has already been issued for Italy, Spain, and France.

Meanwhile, the Australian ambassador to Athens has been called to the Foreign Ministry to give explanations on the issue.

Referring to the recent press reports in Australia, raising security issues during the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, Mr. Papandreou associated them with economic interests given the present circumstance and the bids taking place on Olympic Games supplies.

The Foreign Minister met today with the Prime Minister and discussed issues of foreign policy focusing on the EU-Turkey relations, the Greek-Turkish relations and the Cyprus issue in view of the UN General Assembly meeting that will be held by the end of

September.

Of the stocks trading today, 143 had gains and 165 recorded losses, while the value of 73 stocks remained unchanged.

The above were stated by Greek government spokesman Christos Protopapas, pointing out that Greece has no objection to cooperate with the British officers to face problems caused by their country's nationals.