Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 00-06-13

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

CONTENTS

[01] ATHENS, SYDNEY SIGN COOPERATION AGREEMENT

[02] NEW HOPES FOR THE DISCOVERY OF ALOIS BRUNNER AFTER AL ASSAD'S DEATH

[03] THE FAMILY OF THE ASSASSINATED BRITISH MILITARY ATTACHE PAID TRIBUTE TO

[04] LOSSES OF 1.43% IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE WITH THE HELP OF MORGAN

[05] FORTY SEVEN MILLION CHILDREN LIVE IN POVERTY

[06] AN ITALIAN WAS DROWNED WHILE TRYING TO SAVE A LITTLE GIRL

[07] INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC CONFERENCE IN ATHENS

[08] MEASURES TAKEN FOR PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION

[09] PM: EU SUMMIT IS GREEN LIGHT FOR ACCESSION TO EMU

[10] N.D. LEADER CONCURS, EMU ACCESSION A SUCCESS

[11] DIPLOMATS BODY FLOWN TO UK THIS AFTERNOON

[12] NEW ROUND OF TALKS BETWEEN GREECE AND FYROM IN NEW YORK

[13] FYROM BISHOPS VISIT ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE

[14] RAU-SEFIHA MEETING IN BERLIN

[15] COMPENSATION TO NAZI SLAVE WORKERS

[16] GREEK AMBASSADOR TO US COMMENTS ON TERRORISM

[17] ALBRIGHT WONT ABIDE BY WOOLSEYS CLAIMS

[01] ATHENS, SYDNEY SIGN COOPERATION AGREEMENT

The Mayors of Athens and Sydney, Dimitris Avramopoulos and Frank Sartor respectively, have signed an "Agreement of friendship and cooperation between the cities of Sydney and Athens" during a ceremony held at Sydney's Town Hall.

According to the protocol, the two cities agree to build a spirit of close cooperation on the preparation and promotion of the Olympiads, as the Games will be held in Sydney this year and in Athens in 2004, examine and cultivate cultural and commercial activities between them, adopt a spirit of friendship and follow fields of mutual interest.

Greece and Australia are the only countries which have participated in all of the modern-day Olympic Games.

Mr. Avramopoulos was received by Prime Minister Bob Carr and leading members of the Greek-Australian community.

A.F.

[02] NEW HOPES FOR THE DISCOVERY OF ALOIS BRUNNER AFTER AL ASSAD'S DEATH

The refusal by the Syrian authorities to give information that will lead to the arrest of the "Butcher of Thessalloniki", Alois Brunner, who is wanted for war crimes in the Nazi period and according to information lives in Damascus, could end after the death of Syrian president Hafez al Assad last Saturday.

The hope was expressed in statements made by French lawyer Serge Klarsfelt, who is hunting down Nazi war criminals and heads the Association of the Children of the deported French Jews, while a similar view was expressed by Thessaloniki's Jewish Community.

A French court decided last December to try the infamous Nazi in absentia for the deportation of about 250 young Jews from France to Auswitz where the were killed.

Brunner, now 85, is one of the leading names in the list with Nazi war criminals and lives for a number of years in Damascus, Syria. France and Germany asked for his extradition repeatedly but president Assad maintained that Brunner was not in Syria even though Israeli secret agents had photographed him in Damascus 3 years ago.

The French lawyer, in an interview with the French radio station "France Info", characterized president Assad's death as a relief, pointing out that it could offer a chance for truth to be revealed.

Brunner was one of the organizers of the holocaust of at least 130.000 Jews from Greece, the Czech Republic, Austria and France while he was also the right hand of Adolf Eichman who was in charge of the Nazi regime's "death machine".

Thessaloniki's Jewish Community president Andreas Sefiha had stated recently to Macedonian Press Agency that as far as he knows both the German and the Israeli information services have evidence proving that Brunner lives in Syria. He also said that the Syrian authorities have covered and continue to cover Brunner because he helped in the organizing of the Syrian secret services.

It should be noted that the infamous war criminal lives in Damascus as Dr. Fischer.

Brunner is wanted by the Interpol and the German government offers a DM500.000 reward for information leading to his arrest, while he is also wanted by the French authorities given the fact that he was sentenced to death twice by a Paris court when he was found guilty for the deaths of 25.000 Jews among them 250 small children at the Dransy Nazi concentration camp.

[03] THE FAMILY OF THE ASSASSINATED BRITISH MILITARY ATTACHE PAID TRIBUTE TO HIS MEMORY

The widow and daughters of the assassinated British military attache in Athens paid tribute to his memory at the spot where he was killed at Kifisia Avenue in the Greek capital.

The motorcade accompanying Stephen Saunders' body on its way to the airport from where it was taken to Britain, paid tribute to his memory by stopping for a few minutes at the spot where the killing took place.

The widow of the British brigadier, who was killed by "17 November" terrorists last Thursday, will return to Athens on Friday to take part in the events scheduled by the British embassy in Athens.

Meanwhile, the reward offered by the Greek state for information leading to the arrest of "17 November" terrorists has increased from 500 million drachmas to 1 billion drachmas and already a presidential decree has been promoted for publication.

[04] LOSSES OF 1.43% IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE WITH THE HELP OF MORGAN STANLEY

Significant losses of 1.43% were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today under the pressure of a Morgan Stanley report which mentions that the Greek market is overvalued by 25% and the general index must drop to 3.405 points.

As soon as the report was made known the losses recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange were 2.39% but Greek national economy ministry circles stated that the Morgan Stanley speculations are based on disputable assumptions.

After those clarifications were made, the general index recovered and reached 4.316,70 points recording losses of 1.43%, while the volume of transactions was at 146 billion drachmas. Of the stocks trading today 52 recorded gains and 282 had losses.

[05] FORTY SEVEN MILLION CHILDREN LIVE IN POVERTY

One in 6 children or in other words 47 million children in the world's most developed countries live in poverty conditions, according to a UNICEF report drawn up after a research in 29 member-states of the Organization for the Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD.

According to the report the highest poverty levels can be found in Mexico 26.2%, the United States 22.4%, Italy 20.5%, Britain 19.8% and Turkey 19.7%.

According to UNICEF, many of the problems faced by the industrial countries are rooted in the child poverty. The children growing up in poverty conditions are more likely to present difficulties in learning, they usually leave school, use drugs and commit crimes. Also, they are more likely to have a tendency toward unemployment, become parents at a early age and live in a way that maintains poverty that it is inherited to the next generations.

[06] AN ITALIAN WAS DROWNED WHILE TRYING TO SAVE A LITTLE GIRL

A 65yearold Italian man lost his life in his effort to save a small girl who was drowning at a sea region in Hiraklion, Crete in southern Aegean.

The weather was bad and the man, Nino Bonafini, was drowned in heavy seas. The girl was finally rescued by other people who were swimming nearby.

[07] INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC CONFERENCE IN ATHENS

An International Economic Conference will be held in Athens on July 2-4 under the auspices of the Association for the Monetary Union of Europe (AMUE) with the support and the exclusive sponsoring of the EFG Eurobank.

The conference will be held at the Latsis Business Group main offices and among the main speakers will be minister of national economy Yiannos Papantoniou, Bank of Greece governor Lambros Papadimos and National Bank of Greece governor Theodoros Karatzas, while the conference's coordinator will be EFG Bank European Financial Group president Spiros Latsis.

Guest speaker will be former French president Mr. D'Esteint, who will be presented by Societe Generale de Belgique and AMUE president.

[08] MEASURES TAKEN FOR PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION

The Authority for the Protection of Personal Data has drawn two measures that will safeguard citizens from everyday intrusions of their privacy, especially in light of the recent revelations that CD CD-ROMs containing data on citizens (including names, telephone numbers and car license plates) were being sold on the market for 10,000 drachmas.

One of the measures taken prevents employers from tapping the phone calls made by their staff during work hours. However, in order to safeguard against misuse, i.e. excessive long distance calling, the Authority allows the employer to keep tabs only on the first digits of the called numbers so as to ascertain if the call is local or not.

The second measure restricts the activity of firms involved in maternity and baby gear, which, having acquired lists of new births in the maternity wards, often overwhelm the new mothers with a never-ending barrage of advertisements. According to the Authority, these firms will be able to obtain the potential client's data only if she consents to the release of the said information by the clinic.

A.F.

[09] PM: EU SUMMIT IS GREEN LIGHT FOR ACCESSION TO EMU

Prime Minister Costas Simitis stated today that the upcoming European Union Summit in Portugal will be the final step for Greek entry to the Economic and Monetary Union, "the EU's central nucleus".

The EU Summit, to be held in Feira, on June 19-20, will essentially endorse ECOFIN's unanimous approval of Greece entry to the euro-zone.

According to the Premier, this accession will result in qualitative changes in Greek-EU relations, as it will lead to improved conditions of stability and development.

"We will be able to work towards social cohesion, real convergence with the European Union. We have taken steps, we have approximated the EU's average living standard, but we will have to continue with success," Mr. Simitis stated.

A.F.

[10] N.D. LEADER CONCURS, EMU ACCESSION A SUCCESS

The leader of the main opposition of New Democracy Costas Karamanlis may have a lot of bones to pick with the governing PASOK party, but at least he concurs that the country's accession to the Economic and Monetary Union is a "success", albeit, he notes, it is not a "panacea".

In an article published today in the Athens daily "Ta Nea", as a response to yesterday's article penned by the Premier Costas Simitis, Mr. Karamanlis writes that while accession to the EMU is a feat, there is no real convergence between the Greek economy and the economies of other EU member-states.

A.F.

[11] DIPLOMATS BODY FLOWN TO UK THIS AFTERNOON

The body of British defense attache Brigadier Stephen Saunders, who was killed by the November 17 terrorist group on Thursday, will be flown to Britain this afternoon, aboard a British Airways special flight.

Condolences have poured in over the diplomat's loss. Friends and colleagues of the slain diplomat have also sent wreaths to the British embassy in Kolonaki, central Athens, where a book of condolences has been opened. Visitors can express their condolences until tomorrow noon.

Meanwhile, the state has prepared the presidential decree which doubles the reward to be given for any information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators.

A.F.

[12] NEW ROUND OF TALKS BETWEEN GREECE AND FYROM IN NEW YORK

The talks on the pending issue of FYROM's name will be repeated at the UN headquarters in New York today after a 6-month interruption. Greece and FYROM are represented by ambassadors Elias Gounaris and Ivan Tosevski and the talks will be held with the mediation of US diplomat Matthew Nimitz.

Recent FYROM newspaper publications commenting on the resumption of the Athens-Skopje talks speculated that no new proposal is expected to be submitted by the two sides, adding that the new round of talks is being held at a time when bilateral economic relations are constantly improving underlining that it is obvious that the two sides want to improve relations at all levels which means that they want the problem to be solved in a mutually beneficial way.

The Skopje newspaper "Nova Makedonia" underlines in an article that it is to the interest of both countries to find a compromise solution because there can be no winners or losers in this case.

[13] FYROM BISHOPS VISIT ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE

Four bishops from the Church of FYROM visited the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul recently, where they discussed their Church's recognition with the Patriarch Vartholomeos.

According to FYROM news wires, the recognition of the Autocephalus Church of FYROM is almost certain, although the Church will be called Archbishopry of Ohrid.

A.F.

[14] RAU-SEFIHA MEETING IN BERLIN

Thessaloniki's Jewish Community president Andreas Safiha met with German president Johannes Rau in Berlin. The meeting was held in the presidential building at the invitation of Mr. Rau, while also present was Thessaloniki's Jewish community assembly president.

Mr. Rau referred to the fact that during his recent visit to Thessaloniki he did not pay tribute to the city's Jewish community and stressed that this event was solely the result of the fact that he was not informed.

[15] COMPENSATION TO NAZI SLAVE WORKERS

US and German negotiators reached an agreement for the compensation of the people who were forced by the Nazis to become slave workers. The agreement provides for the establishment of a DM10 billion fund for the compensation of people, who were used as slave workers, while the German companies asked and received guarantees for immunity from any relevant future court action against them.

The proposal for the creation of the fund must have the legislative approval of German parliament as part of the DM10 billion, that will be used to pay compensation to the Nazi slave workers, will come from public funds.

[16] GREEK AMBASSADOR TO US COMMENTS ON TERRORISM

Greece's ambassador to the United States Alexander Philon stressed that the Greek government is determined to launch a combat against terrorism, however, it will do so within the framework of a democratic society which respects its citizens' individual freedoms.

In an interview with the C-SPAN cable network, Ambassador

Philon referred to cooperation between Greece, the US and Britain to crack down on terrorism and to the new measures that will be undertaken by the Greek government.

Mr. Philon said that the actions of the November 17 terrorist organization are not only directed against NATO, the European Union and the Greek government, which, as he said, has achieved successes in the economy, cooperation in the Balkans and accession to Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), but against democracy in Greece as well.

He also stressed that the Greek people deplore the terrorists since they have realized that they aim at undermining Greek society and marring the country's international image.

A.F.

[17] ALBRIGHT WONT ABIDE BY WOOLSEYS CLAIMS

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright reiterated yesterday that the Clinton Administration rejects the proposal of the National Committee on Terrorism for the imposition of sanctions on Greece, and distances itself from CIA's former director James Woolsey's allegations that members of the Greek government have not acted on information that could lead to the arrest of terrorists.

Referring to the N17 killing of British defense attache to Athens Brigadier Stephen Saunders, Ms. Albright stated that "I spoke to Foreign Minister Papandreou earlier today and we discussed the terrible murder and how badly we both feel, as well as how important it is for Greece to act in the strongest possible way.

"He assured me that the Greek government is very concerned over the issue and feels from its point of view, not just that of foreigners there, that it is very important that the problem of November 17 (terrorist organization) is solved."

Ms. Albright further added that the Clinton Administration is in contact with the Greek government and has received assurances that everything is being done to put an end to terrorist attacks.

A.F.

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