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Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2003-10-09
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY
Thessaloniki, October 9, 2003
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] PROVISIONS FOR THE FOREST
[02] POLICE VS POLICE
[03] NO SIMITIS-CHRISTODOULOS MEETING
[04] OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT AFTER 27 YEARS
[05] POLICE PROTEST BORDERED ON RIOT
[06] FIGHTER JET CRASHED IN ARAXOS
[07] ANARCHISTS SHUT DOWN MPA FOR 30 MINUTES
[08] MARIA DAMANAKI LEAVES COALITION OF THE LEFT AND RESIGNS FROM PARLIAMENT
[09] LOSSES IN THE ASE
[10] THE ARMENIAN ACCUSATIONS ARE UNFOUNDED
[11] OFFICIAL CONFIRMATION OF PRESS REPORTS ON THE FORCEFUL ENTRY OF PROTESTERS IN SAN FRANCISCO'S GREEK CONSULATE
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[12] NO MILITARY EXERCISE IN SE MEDITERRANEAN BY GREECE AND TURKEY
[13] PAPANDREOU: GREECE WANTS PEACE AND STABILITY IN IRAQ
NEWS IN DETAILS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] PROVISIONS FOR THE FOREST
An area must be at least 3,000 square meters and 25% of that must be covered by specific kinds of trees for it to be characterized as a forest, according to the provisions of the new draft presented by Minister of Agriculture Giorgos Drys. It should be n
oted that until recently, the percentage that needed to be covered by trees was only 15%, for an area to be characterized as a forest. Unauthorized houses in forests are calculated at 60,000, and their owners must either pay the fines or tear them down in
six months or turn the keys over to the forestry service.
[02] POLICE VS POLICE
Unprecedented episodes took place in the early morning hours in Syntagma Square, Athens, when special police forces used tear gas in order to disperse the march being carried out by unionist colleagues of theirs from the security bodies, who were protest
ing so that the state would recognize their job as dangerous and unhealthy. Four police officers were taken to hospital with respiratory problems due the teargas used.
[03] NO SIMITIS-CHRISTODOULOS MEETING
"No wish for a meeting has been expressed by us or by the other side", responded Archbishop of Athens and all of Greece Christodoulos, when asked if there was a chance that he would meet with Prime Minister Costas Simitis. "There is no chance of a functi
onal meeting with the Prime Minister of Greece", said Mr. Christodoulos.
[04] OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT AFTER 27 YEARS
The scenery is changing for the Coalition of the Left, after the decision of Mrs. Maria Damanaki not to participate in the elections, as was pointed out today at the meeting of the party's Political Secretariat, which had called the party's former presid
ent to attend. Groups within the party seem to have the intention to ask Mrs. Damanaki to resign now and not complete her term, as was mentioned in her letter to Coalition President Mr. Constantopoulos, in which she stated that she disagreed both with the
collaboration policy as well as with the dennounciatory tone of the party.
[05] POLICE PROTEST BORDERED ON RIOT
The incidents that took place in the early morning hours at Syntagma Square, Athens, between police special forces and uniformed officers, fire fighters and the coast guard, were referred to by Minister of Public Order Giorgos Floridis, in statements he
made to "Flash" radio.
"The mobilizations of the police and the sit-in at the Ministry of Finance bordered on rioting, as the protestors were armed", stated Mr. Floridis. Such actions, underlined the Minister, expose Greece, while he mentioned that if their demand for their pr
ofession to be recognized as dangerous, a policeman will receive a full pension at the age of 35, after just 14 years of service from the moment he graduates from school.
Meanwhile, hundreds of protestors are still in Syntagma Square, while colleagues from outside the city will be arriving in Athens in the afternoon, in order to escalate the mobilizations.
[06] FIGHTER JET CRASHED IN ARAXOS
A two-seat "A7 Corsair" fighter aircraft crashed at 12:10 today, near the military airport in Araxos.
According to information, the two pilots ejected from the aircraft and were collected uninjured, in an area two miles south of the Araxos airport. They were taken to the 251 General Air Force Hospital as a precaution.
The aircraft was on a training mission and the incident is attributed to a mechanical failure.
[07] ANARCHISTS SHUT DOWN MPA FOR 30 MINUTES
Approximately 50 anarchists took over the offices of the Macedonian Press Agency shortly before noon today, for half an hour, asking for the release of the 7 individuals of the same ideology, who have been incarnated awaiting trial for the violent incide
nts that took place in June, during the Thessaloniki EU Summit.
The group hung a large banner on the front of the MPA offices and shut off power from the main switch, thus inhibiting all functions of the agency and the work of the journalists.
Other individuals at the entrance of the building, handed out declarations asking for the release of the 7 protesters. The declarations were signed "Burglars of the social web", "domestic enemy", and "provocateurs of well slept nights".
In an announcement, the board of Directors of the Macedonian Press Agency, denounced this action, noting that similar events directly strike freedom of the press and Democracy itself.
[08] MARIA DAMANAKI LEAVES COALITION OF THE LEFT AND RESIGNS FROM PARLIAMENT
Maria Damanaki leaves her party, Coalition of the Left, and resigns from her post as Parliament Deputy, according to statements she made to reporters today, one day after the letter she sent to the party leadership in which she stated that she will not b
e a candidate in the next parliamentary elections but she is going to serve the rest of her term in Parliament.
"I resign from Parliament, I resign from Coalition of the Left but I do not resign from politics", she stated characteristically, adding that she will keep her right to express her opinion freely on any issue.
Mrs. Damanaki explained that she could not be in a party the leadership of which chose the pre-election period to destroy its domestic rivals both in a moral and political sense. She accused the party leadership of funneling information into the press wi
thin the framework of a smear campaign.
Mrs. Damanaki's seat in Parliament will be taken over by Yiannis Dragasakis. He is an economist, and a member of the Coalition of the Left central political committee.
[09] LOSSES IN THE ASE
Losses were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index dropped to -0.11% at 2.120,82 points, while the volume of transactions was unusually high reaching 612,76 million euros.
Of the stocks trading today, 147 recorded gains and 148 had losses, while the value of 88 stocks remained unchanged.
[10] THE ARMENIAN ACCUSATIONS ARE UNFOUNDED
Unfounded are the slanderous accusations made against the Greek Football Federation by the Armenian Football Federation concerning a bribery attempt allegedly targeting the players of the Armenian national football team. The two teams played against each
other on September 6 within the framework of the Euro 2004 qualifiers.
UEFA in a statement it has issued it stresses that based on the investigation conducted so far there is no evidence proving that there was a bribery attempt in the game between the national football teams of Greece and Armenia.
[11] OFFICIAL CONFIRMATION OF PRESS REPORTS ON THE FORCEFUL ENTRY OF PROTESTERS IN SAN FRANCISCO'S GREEK CONSULATE
Greek government spokesman Christos Protopapas confirmed the press report on the Thessaloniki newspaper "Macedonia" according to which, protesters entered forcefully the Greek Consulate in San Francisco, United States on September 26.
According to the press report, the US police had been informed of the intentions of the protesters but they did not mobilize a force strong enough to avert their violent entry in the Consulate's offices.
Mr. Protopapas pointed out that the responsible US authorities admitted that they were negligent when dealing with the issue. He said that there was a lack of internal coordination in the local police and all guarantees have been given that the Greek Con
sulate will be safe and no such incident will take place again in the future.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[12] NO MILITARY EXERCISE IN SE MEDITERRANEAN BY GREECE AND TURKEY
Foreign Ministers of Greece and Turkey, Giorgos Papandreou and Abdullah Gul, agreed to cancel this year's military exercises in southeastern Mediterranean. They reached the decision in their meeting in Antalya, Turkey today, according to the Turkish news
agency Anadolu.
Specifically, Mr. Papandreou and Mr. Gul agreed to cancel the military exercises "Nikiforos", "Toxotis", "Barbaros" and "Toros".
[13] PAPANDREOU: GREECE WANTS PEACE AND STABILITY IN IRAQ
The need for an administration to come to power as soon as possible in Iraq representing all sectors of local society, was stressed by Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Papandreou. He made the statements from Antalya, Turkey where he attends the Ministerial
Meeting of the Mediterranean Forum (FOROMED).
According to the Turkish news agency Anadolu, Mr. Papandreou also said that Greece wants peace and stability in Iraq and the establishment of an independent and responsible state for the Iraqi people.
He pointed out that every effort toward this direction is important and added that Greece knows well that Turkey's decision to send soldiers to Iraq was a difficult one.
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