Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 00-08-11

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

CONTENTS

[01] PM IN NEW YORK NEXT MONTH FOR TOP BRASS MEETING

[02] HIV CARRIER DONATED BLOOD WITH INTENT TO INFECT

[03] THE RACE IS ON FOR OLYMPICS COVERAGE

[04] HUNT FOR TREASURES STOLEN BY NAZIS UNDERWAY

[05] SPERM-WHALE OBSERVATORY WORKING IN SOUTH CRETE

[06] PRESIDENT OF CYPRUS HOLIDAYS IN GREEK ISLANDS

[07] CHURCH LEADERS BICKERING AMONG THEM OVER IDS

[08] AHEPA ISSUES RESOLUTIONS ON CYPRUS AT ASSEMBLY

[09] ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE DELEGATION IN MOSCOW

[10] GREEK MILITARY CHIEF LAYS WREATH FOR SAUNDERS

[11] CLERIDES ASKS FOR EFFECTIVE NEGOTIATIONS

[12] TURKEYS FORMER FM ON GREEK-TURKISH RELATIONS

[01] PM IN NEW YORK NEXT MONTH FOR TOP BRASS MEETING

Prime Minister Costas Simitis will travel to New York in September, at the invitation of U.S. President Bill Clinton, where he will participate at the "Progressive Government" leaders meeting.

Mr. Simitis will depart Greece on September 5, immediately after the inauguration of Thessaloniki's International Fair. While in New York, the Premier is expected to hold a series of meetings with other state leaders.

The Greek Premier will be accompanied by the same group of government officials who had escorted him in Berlin, while Foreign Minister George Papandreou is also accepted to be present.

A.F.

[02] HIV CARRIER DONATED BLOOD WITH INTENT TO INFECT

An unidentified man has confessed that he donated blood two years ago while knowing he was a carrier of the AIDS virus (human immuno-deficiency virus, HIV), resulting in the infection of a two-year-old infant and a 70-year-old woman.

According to reports, the man told an Athens prosecutor that he gave blood at the "Elena" hospital in Athens with the intent of transmitting the virus to others.

The prosecutor has filed first degree charges of intent to harm against the man, while the hospital has already been ordered to pay monthly compensation of GRD700,000 to the child's parents; the elderly woman is also seeking monthly compensation of GRD500,000.

A.F.

[03] THE RACE IS ON FOR OLYMPICS COVERAGE

The 2004 Olympic Games Committee will announce the winner of the competition being held over the TV and radio coverage of the event, whilst the 12 national sponsors of the Games are to be announced next week.

The Athens 2004 board of directors has taken this decision in an attempt to promote the main issues involved, in time for the International Olympic Committee's visit to Greece on the 24th and 25th August.

The BBC, RAI, TVRS and ISR-ERT will compete for exclusive coverage of the 2004 Olympic Games and will submit their offers by September 12th. Only Greek companies will be awarded sponsorship rights during the Games.

[04] HUNT FOR TREASURES STOLEN BY NAZIS UNDERWAY

An international team of divers is presently conducting a search for the gold and diamonds the Nazis forcefully took from Greek Jews, as the operation got underway this morning after a week's delay.

The treasure, estimated at more than two billion dollars, is believed to be lying on the seabed off the southern Peloponnese where divers will search for a fishing skiff believed to have been sunk by SS officer Max Merten somewhere off the coast of Methoni in 1943.

According to reports, Merten extorted vast sums from the members of the city's then-flourishing Jewish community in order to save them from forced labor or deportation to German concentration camps - where over 90 percent of Thessaloniki's 80,000 Jews died.

The SS officer is said to have siphoned off large amounts of gold bullion, sovereigns, diamonds and jewels, which he sent by submarine to Katakolo in the western Peloponnese. He then loaded the treasure on a skiff which he sank off Methoni, with the intention of returning after the war to raise it. But he died in Germany in 1976, after being briefly jailed in Greece in 1958.

Greek Jewish leader Moses Constandinides and Heinz Kunio, representing Thessaloniki's Jewish community, are accompanying the ten divers participating in the operation.

A.F.

[05] SPERM-WHALE OBSERVATORY WORKING IN SOUTH CRETE

In an area documented as one of the largest habitats of cetaceans, a sperm-whale observatory has been established by the Institute of Whale Research "Pelagos" in south Crete, providing unprecedented eco-tourism opportunities for the general public.

The "Pelagos" institute, a non-profit organization which engages in sperm-whale study and conservation programs, has been offering week-long programs for sighting and observing these giants of the sea in the region between Paleochora and Gavdos. The programs, which got underway in June, will be in effect until the end of September.

The sperm whale (Physeter) is the largest of all the toothed whales, with an enormous head almost 35% of it's total body length. It can measure up to 18 meters in length, with its weight reaching 44 tons.

While the world has celebrated and sung of whales and dolphins for centuries, the first person to write about them was the Greek philosopher, Aristotle, who in 350 BC described whales, dolphins, and porpoises as cetaceans and distinguished them from fish.

Also, it has been said that the ancient Greeks were the first to carry out non-lethal or benign research on marine mammals.

In addition to providing the public with sperm-whale sightseeing opportunities, "Pelagos" aims to conduct and promote scientific research concerning cetaceans and their habitat in Greece and the Mediterranean, disseminate the resulting data, protect and safeguard marine ecosystems and sensitize the general public.

A.F.

[06] PRESIDENT OF CYPRUS HOLIDAYS IN GREEK ISLANDS

The President of the Republic of Cyprus Glafcos Clerides is presently on a Greek islands cruise, accompanied by his wife Lola-Irene and a friendly couple.

President Clerides is to return to Cyprus on August 25 and will spend that weekend at the Paphos province where he will inaugurate a museum.

A.F.

[07] CHURCH LEADERS BICKERING AMONG THEM OVER IDS

Even though the August 15 Feast of the Virgin Mary is fast approaching, Church leaders throughout the country are ignoring Archbishop Christodoulos' plea for a truce with the government and some are now openly bickering among them over the Church's stance on the ID cards issue.

Metropolitan of Zakynthos Chrysostomos, who is not what one would consider the best of Mr. Christodoulos' supporters, insinuated yesterday that the Archbishop's "circle" will lead to his demise.

"I had once stated that the Archbishop will be failed by his circle; I hope for a change in his circle", Chrysostomos characteristically said.

Meanwhile, Metropolitan Amvrosios of Kalavrytra yesterday issued a written announcement claiming that he was misquoted earlier this week when he said that "You don't go to battle with powdered sugar from Turkish delight. You take rocks and sticks and throw them to defend your rights."

Actually, Mr. Amvrosios explained, the contentious phrase of "...rocks and sticks......" meant that "in our struggle to convince the government to hold a dialogue with us, we will utilize anything that can upset the government."

A.F.

[08] AHEPA ISSUES RESOLUTIONS ON CYPRUS AT ASSEMBLY

The American-Hellenic Educational and Progressive Association (AHEPA) has issued a series of resolutions, appealing to the US administration to work in the direction ending the 26-year-old Turkish occupation of northern Cyprus.

In its recently-held assembly in New Orleans, AHEPA also stressed the need for the enforcement of international law and order and added that Turkey should act in accordance with the rule of law and UN resolutions on Cyprus.

Lastly, the AHEPANS stressed that it is in the US interests to act towards a resolution of the Cyprus question.

A.F.

[09] ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE DELEGATION IN MOSCOW

Archbishop of America Dimitrios is to head a three-member delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate which will attend the officiation services of the Church of the Christ the Savior in Moscow.

The delegation, which will be in Moscow between August 17-29, comprises the Ecumenical Patriarchate Vartholomeos and Metropolites Constantine and Cyrillus.

The inauguration ceremony will be held on August 19 and will be officiated by the Moscow Patriarch Alexius.

The Church of the Christ the Savior, established in 1880, was ruined in 1931 during the Stalin era. Its restoration was completed this year.

A.F.

[10] GREEK MILITARY CHIEF LAYS WREATH FOR SAUNDERS

Greece's military chief Gen. Manoussos Paragioudakis, laid a wreath at the grave of British defense attache Stephen Saunders, who was assassinated by the November 17 terrorist group in Athens in June.

Gen. Parayioudakis, recently on an official visit to the United Kingdom at the invitation of his British counterpart Gen. Sir Charles Guthrie, reiterated the Greek government's condolences and its determination to track down the perpetrators.

"We have all been deeply shocked by the murder of the British defense attache in Athens. On this sad occasion I would like to reiterate the absolute determination of the Greek government to spare no efforts in order to bring those responsible to justice," the Greek military chief stated.

Brigadier Saunders' widow, Heather, expressed the hope that the Greek people will continue to show their support and assist her in the struggle to bring her husband's killers before justice.

A.F.

[11] CLERIDES ASKS FOR EFFECTIVE NEGOTIATIONS

Cyprus has asked that the next round of talks form the basis of effective negotiation rather than a simple exchanging of views, according to Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides, following communications with Kofi Annan, General Secretary of the United Nations.

"We asked that September be a month of negotiation and not just an opportunity for each side to express its opinion, as this has already happened four times", Mr Clerides said before leaving for the Greek islands on holiday.

[12] TURKEYS FORMER FM ON GREEK-TURKISH RELATIONS

Turkey's rapprochement with the West is a road that passes through Greece, according to Turkish former foreign minister Ilter Turkmen.

In an article published in the Turkish daily "Hurriyet", titled "Friendship in the Aegean Sea", Mr. Turkmen penned that the period inaugurated by the two countries' foreign ministers, Greece's George Papandreou and Turkey's Ismael Cem, has begun to work, albeit it still requires vast effort in order to make it a lasting situation, safeguarded from accidents and misunderstandings.

Moreover, Mr. Turkmen writes that the Turkish leadership should not dismiss Greece's significance in Ankara's overall foreign policy.

A.F.

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