Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 01-03-04

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

CONTENTS

[01] TOP BRITISH POLICE OFFICIAL IN GREECE TOMORROW

[02] GREEK, ARMENIAN, IRANIAN FMs TO MEET IN ATHENS

[03] GREEK DEFENSE MINISTER IN SYRIA FOR TALKS

[04] MAN KILLS WIFE BY POURING BLEACH IN HER MOUTH

[05] GREEK BUSINESS DELEGATION TO VISIT CAIRO

[06] JIANGSU CHINESE DELEGATION VISITS THESSALONIKI

[07] FIRST CENSUS OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM ON MARCH 18

[08] HOUSE TO BOOST AID FOR GREEKS IN RUSSIA, ALBANIA

[09] DEVELOPMENT MINISTER IN BERLIN FOR TRADE FAIR

[10] US EMBASSY, AHEPA HOLD TREE-PLANTING PROJECT

[01] TOP BRITISH POLICE OFFICIAL IN GREECE TOMORROW

A senior British police official will embark on a two-day official visit to Athens tomorrow, where he will hold talks with the Greek authorities on security matters regarding the Athens 2004 Olympics and on joint efforts to discover the notorious terrorist group known as 17 November.

Sir John Stevens, the commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police - formerly known as Scotland Yard - will meet Public Order Minister Michalis Chrysochoides, Interior Minister Vasso Papandreou and Police Chief Ioannis Georgakopoulos.

According to a British embassy statement, Stevens stated that over the past few months, we have developed a close and fruitful cooperation with our Greek colleagues, particularly in the crucial sector of confronting terrorism."

British police officers have worked together with the Greek counter-terrorism squad in the months that followed the assassination last June of the UK military attaché in Athens, Brigadier Stephen Saunders, by the November 17 group.

"We regard as an honor the fact that, building on that cooperation, the Greek Ministry of Public Order has sought our advice - as well as that of several other countries - regarding preparations for the 2004 Olympic Games," Stevens said.

"Major sports events such as the Olympic Games or international football championships bring the police forces of host countries face-to-face with totally unusual demands, and it is in the interest of all of us to work together on tried and tested action plans."

A.F.

[02] GREEK, ARMENIAN, IRANIAN FMs TO MEET IN ATHENS

The foreign ministers of Greece, Armenia and Iran are to hold talks in Athens on March 8, in order to discuss issues of trilateral economic cooperation.

Foreign Minister George Papandreou will receive his counterparts from Iran Kamal Kharrazi and Armenia Vartan Oskanyan with whom he had signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in energy, transport and tourism on Sept. 9, 1999.

The three ministers had met for the first time at the Armenian capital of Yerevan, where they discussed the participation of third countries in a natural gas pipeline between Iran and Armenia. At that time, the three had also confirmed their interest in the use of renewable energy, and agreed to establish an energy database in their countries. Greece had also tabled initiatives to organize training seminars on tourism, transport, industry, technology and the economy.

A.F.

[03] GREEK DEFENSE MINISTER IN SYRIA FOR TALKS

Defense Minster Akis Tsochatzopoulos is presently on an official visit to Damascus, at the invitation of this Syrian counterpart Mustafa Tlas.

Mr. Tsochatzopoulos is scheduled to meet with Syrian president Bashar al-Asad and Premier Mohammed Mustafa Miro,. While he will also have contacts with the Patriarch of Antioch and leading members of Syria's Greek community.

The Defense Minister had traveled to Tunisia on Friday, where he signed military cooperation accords with his Tunisian counterpart, involving joint military maneuvers.

A.F.

[04] MAN KILLS WIFE BY POURING BLEACH IN HER MOUTH

Police in Athens have arrested a 64-year-old man who has admitted to killing his invalid wife by forcing her to swallow bleach he poured down her throat.

Andreas Papayiannakopoulos was arrested yesterday after he called a funeral parlor to arrange his wife's funeral, without being in possession of a death certificate.

The subsequent autopsy found that Evgenia Papayiannakopoulou, 62, had been forced to drink a large quantity of bleach and had died. The victim had been suffering from multiple sclerosis for the past 20 years and was bedridden for the last five.

Upon questioning, the suspect claimed that he thought he was giving milk to his wife and that he must have chosen the mistaken bottle.

However, he is said to have later confessed that as he could not bear to see her suffering from multiple sclerosis, he poured bleach down his wife's throat and stuffed her mouth with toilet paper in order to muffle the woman's agonizing screams.

According to the police report, Papayiannakopoulos killed his wife on Thursday but stayed with the corpse until Friday night, when he went to a local undertaker to make burial arrangements.

The undertaker, however, grew suspicious and asked for a death certificate. At this request, the man confessed, allegedly telling the undertaker that he would pay him for help in disposing of the body. The undertaker then notified the police who arrested Papayiannakopoulos.

According to reports, Papayiannakopoulos had tried to kill his wife five years ago by setting her alight. He is expected to appear before an Athens magistrate tomorrow.

A.F.

[05] GREEK BUSINESS DELEGATION TO VISIT CAIRO

A delegation of Greek businessmen, led by the chairman of Athens' Chamber of Commerce, is to conduct a visit to Cairo on March 12, and will hold talks with officials from the Association of Egyptian Entrepreneurs.

The talks will focus on bilateral cooperation in the trade and investment sectors. According to the Egyptian daily Al Akhbar, the Greek delegation comprises 20 representatives from the sectors of food, agricultural machinery, cosmetics, chemicals, building supplies, computers and tourism.

A.F.

[06] JIANGSU CHINESE DELEGATION VISITS THESSALONIKI

A five-member Chinese delegation from the province of Jiangsu will begin a three-day visit in Thessaloniki tomorrow, at the invitation of the local prefecture.

Tomorrow morning, a protocol of cooperation is scheduled to be signed by Thessaloniki prefecture representatives and representatives of the Jiangsu province.

During their visit the Chinese delegation plans to hold meetings with local administration officials.

A.F.

[07] FIRST CENSUS OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM ON MARCH 18

Greece will carry out a population and housing census on March 18, including Greeks living abroad and undocumented migrants, as part of the European Union's plan to register Europe's population in 2001.

The census has three characteristics: it is obligatory for all inhabitants in the country, all information will be classified and there will be no religious restrictions. It will be carried out by 150,000 enumerators - including university graduates and unemployed individuals- who will visit every household in the country.

The census will include Greek citizens, foreigners, economic immigrants and travelers.

A nationwide 500-million drachma media campaign has been launched to encourage the public to welcome census takers into their homes. Information pamphlets are also published in a number of languages to assist foreigners living in Greece. These pamphlets stress that the information collected by ESY is confidential and will not be made available to the police.

Presently, the number of undocumented migrants living and working in Greece is estimated at between 500,000 and one million.

The 18-billion-drachma census will consist of three different groups of statistics: an overall count of all who reside in Greece on March 18; a total count of "permanent" residents - which includes foreigners who have been living in Greece for at least six months; and a total count of all legal residents.

The questions will cover everything from the number of persons per household and marital status to place of residence one year and five years ago, nationality and education. Foreigners will be asked to state when they arrived in Greece, their country of origin and the reasons why they reside here. The government believes it will take 10 months to review the data before publishing the conclusions.

The census found 10,259,900 people in 1991; 9,740,417 in 1981; 8,768,641 in 1971; 8,388,553 in 1961.

A.F.

[08] HOUSE TO BOOST AID FOR GREEKS IN RUSSIA, ALBANIA

The Greek Parliament will strengthen the program of the Council of Hellenes Abroad (SAE) by contributing 100,000 dollars for the medical care of 800,000 Greek-origin residents of the former Soviet Union and Albania.

In a meeting held last week between Parliament President Apostolos Kaklamanis and the President of the Council of Hellenes Abroad, Andrew Athens, Mr. Athens thanked the Greek Parliament for its moral and material support of SAE's program.

At the same time, 19 tons of humanitarian aid for various ethnic Greek communities in Georgia were delivered to Georgia on Thursday aboard a Hellenic Air Force transport plane. The Orthodox dioceses of the Volos area collected the aid.

A.F.

[09] DEVELOPMENT MINISTER IN BERLIN FOR TRADE FAIR

Development Minister Nikos Christodoulakis is presently in Berlin to attend an international trade fair that features the participation of the Hellenic Tourism Real Estate SA.

Prior to his arrival in Germany, Mr. Christodoulakis was in Upsala, Sweden for an informal meeting of European Union ministers on research.

On Thursday, the Minister was in Moscow for talks with Russia's deputy prime minister on business ties between the two countries.

A.F.

[10] US EMBASSY, AHEPA HOLD TREE-PLANTING PROJECT

The United States Embassy in Athens, in collaboration with the American Hellenic Educational and Progressive Association (AHEPA), organized a tree-planting project on Mt. Hymettus last week, in a bid to aid the environment and the mountain.

AHEPA Supreme President Johnny Economy and US Ambassador Nicholas Burns, joined by Athens Mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos, planted the first 30 saplings of several hundred thousand trees, which will grace the slopes of Mt. Hymettus under an initiative of the Greek-American advocacy group.

Ambassador Burns saluted AHEPA for having the vision and drive to raise the funds for this very important project.

The money for this valuable effort comes from the generosity of the Greek-American community, which has outdone itself in its commitment to reversing the damage caused by devastating forest fires," the ambassador said, adding that the planting also complements the joint US-Greek fire-fighting training which took place last month.

The initiative, which will be expanded to include the entire country, aims at aiding the local ecosystem and increasing public awareness on the deforestation problem.

A.F.

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