Head of the 24-member committee will be Parliament vice-president Ioannis Tragakis, while 9 Parliament deputies, among them, Evangelos Venizelos will represent opposition party of PASOK. The Communist Party and Coalition of the Left each will have one de puty in the committee.

Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis speaking in the International Herald Tribune symposium stressed the need to implement regulations promoting transparency in the broader public sector, while government spokesman Thodoris Rousopoulos stated that the issue of corruption for the government is an issue of institutions and not individuals.

PASOK President Giorgos Papandreou stated that he is ready to support the proposals of the Prime Minister aimed at creating an institutional shield for political life.

According to information, the Eurostat experts will depart for Brussels tomorrow.

For the record, Eurostat found a deficit of 8,7 billion euros stemming from defense spending not included in the 1997-2003 state budgets.

Mr. Stephanopoulos will meet in Sofia today with Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha, while earlier he will inaugurate a business forum in the presence of Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov.

The Greek President will also meet today with Patriarch Maximos of All Bulgaria.

Tomorrow, Mr. Stephanopoulos will visit Varna and later in the afternoon he will return to Athens.

He added that the government had no contacts with the rest of the political parties on the issue of the election of the new Hellenic Republic President reiterating that any such discussion is premature.

Of the stocks trading today, 56 had gains and 226 had losses, while the value of 124 stocks remained unchanged.

In the summit will be examined issues of joint defense policy, security issues, ways to combat international terrorism, military training, peacekeeping missions as well as, the operational capabilities of the alliance.

They will also discuss the future of NATO's current missions and specifically, its presence in Afghanistan, security in the Kosovo elections and training of forces in Iraq.

According to the National Defense General Staff, 5 formations made up of 12 F16 Turkish Air Force aircraft violated the Greek National Airspace in 14 occasions in the wider region of central Aegean and once over the island of Antipsara at an altitude of 5,000 feet.

The Turkish jets were armed in 4 instances and were all intercepted by Greek aircraft while 4 dogfights took place.

Mr. Papaligouras stated that they attempt to impose their terms on the Greek state. He added that interventions were made at the initiative of the Justice Ministry for the improvement of their living conditions inside the prison within the framework of t he necessary security.

The forum inaugurated Presidents of Greece and Bulgaria, Kostis Stephanopoulos and Georgi Parvanov, who backed the intensification of bilateral economic and business relations.

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