Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 01-01-04

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

CONTENTS

[01] THREE ARRESTED OVER MURDER OF MINISTERS SON

[02] GERMANYS GREEKS ALARMED OVER NEONAZI ATTACK

[03] DEFENSE MINISTRY: NO GREEK SOLDIER WITH LEUKEMIA

[01] THREE ARRESTED OVER MURDER OF MINISTERS SON

Police in Mexico have arrested three suspects, all under the age of 18, in the New Year's Eve slaying of the Greek labor minister's son.

The suspects were found with the knife used to kill 29-year-old Constantine Yiannitsis, as well as Mexican money and travelers checks stolen from him.

The three were identified as Guillermo Ocampo Mortera, 15, Guillermo Garcia Contreras, 17, and Luis Alberto Gonzales, 16.

According to Greek ambassador to Mexico City Dionysis Kodellas, the suspects appear to have been know to the authorities.

Constantine, son of Labor Minister Tassos Yiannitsis, was killed on December 31 while visiting the city of Taxco, 100 kilometers southeast of Mexico City.

The 16-year-old suspect, who claimed to be under the effects of cocaine at the time, confessed to stabbing Yiannitsis when he resisted the youths' attempted robbery.

The tragic father arrived in Mexico City on Tuesday to claim his son's body, which was at a funeral home in Mexico City. The remains are to be sent to Greece today.

A.F.

[02] GERMANYS GREEKS ALARMED OVER NEONAZI ATTACK

A Greek entrepreneur in Germany was assaulted by members of the neo-Nazi organization NPD in Baden Wuerttemberg, suffering massive injuries and requiring hospitalization.

The incident, which occurred on November 10, has alarmed

Germany's Greek community whose members have expressed their concern over such xenophobic acts and call on the German government to take heightened measures to combat these forms of violence.

Attacks against immigrants in Germany have been growing at an alarming rate in recent years.

A.F.

[03] DEFENSE MINISTRY: NO GREEK SOLDIER WITH LEUKEMIA

The Ministry of National Defense has refuted the allegations of main opposition deputy Iordanis Tzamtzis who claimed that a Greek soldier who served in the peacekeeping force assigned to Kosovo (KFOR) is suffering form leukemia and is presently being treated at Thessaloniki's military hospital.

Ministry officials stressed that a soldier who is indeed hospitalized is suffering from diabetes and expressed their dismay as to why the deputy failed to check his information before appearing to the cameras.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Dimitris Apostolakis has stressed that none of the Greek soldiers participating KFOR have been exposed to harmful radiation, following reports of lethal leukemia cases among troops serving in areas strafed with depleted uranium missiles.

Defense Ministry officials insist that NATO's depleted uranium ammunition does not exude dangerous radiation but can produce very toxic oxides when brought into contact with water. For these oxides to cause harm to humans they must be inhaled or swallowed. The ministry has instructed its personnel to keep away from destroyed tanks.

Depleted uranium rounds were mainly used by NATO aircraft in western Kosovo, where Italian and German units are now stationed. Six Italian soldiers who served in the Balkans have died of leukemia, raising fears that they were contaminated by depleted uranium and prompting Rome to call for a NATO investigation. There were similar outbreaks among Portuguese and Belgian troops.

A.F.

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