Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 04-09-16

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

CONTENTS

[01] THOSE RESPONSIBLE WILL BE FOUND

[02] EU FUNDS FOR THE CHURCH OF ST. SOPHIA

[03] VERY GOOD ATMOSPHERE IN THE MOLIVIATIS-ISLAMI TALKS

[04] ROUSOPOULOS ON THE CHINOOK AFFAIR

[05] LOSSES IN THE ASE

[06] THE GOV'T SPOKESMAN ON EXPO 2008

[07] ABOUT 4,000 ATHLETES FROM 140 COUNTRIES IN THE PARALYMPICS

[08] LAWSUIT AGAINST DASSAULT BY RELATIVES OF THE FALCON FREAK ACCIDENT

[09] THE PROCEDURE FOR THE ELECTION OF THE NEW PATRIARCH OF ALEXANDRIA TO BE

[10] GREEK EURO-DEPUTIES ON THE BLOWING UP OF A CROSS NEAR A CHURCH IN

[01] THOSE RESPONSIBLE WILL BE FOUND

Minister of Defense Spilios Spiliotopoulos stated that the findings of the investigation on the Chinook accident last Saturday, in which 17 people were killed, among them, Patriarch Petros of Alexandria and All Africa, will most likely be out by the end of the week.

Mr. Spiliotopoulos stated that the Parliament will be briefed soon afterwards and assured that all those responsible will be punished.

Opposition party of PASOK Coordinator of Foreign Affairs and Defense Anna Diamantopoulou stated that the government is unable to face the crisis. The Communist Party called for an inquiry committee to deal with the issue.

Meanwhile, the Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa was buried in Cairo yesterday.

Two bodies are trapped inside the Chinook fuselage that was traced at the bottom of the sea in a depth of 860 meters, 8 miles east of the Sithonia Peninsula in Chalkidiki northern Greece. The search will become more difficult in the following days because of the weather conditions in the region.

[02] EU FUNDS FOR THE CHURCH OF ST. SOPHIA

New Democracy Euro-deputy Kostas Hatzidakis requested EU funds from the European Commission for the maintenance of the church of Hagia Sophia (St. Sophia) in Istanbul.

Also, Mr. Hatzidakis asks to be briefed in what way the European Commission intends to help the responsible Turkish authorities to restore the damages in the church averting the likelihood of its destruction.

Mr. Hatzidakis underlines the very bad shape of the monument and suggests the assistance to be given through the European Union funds for Turkey urging the Turkish authorities to use them for this purpose.

The Greek Euro-deputy reminds the European Commission that the church of Hagia Sophia is a world heritage monument and a symbol of Orthodoxy and Christianity.

For the record, there is concern that the main dome of the church will collapse due to inadequate maintenance, while the mosaics and frescoes on the church walls are being destroyed because of the humidity.

[03] VERY GOOD ATMOSPHERE IN THE MOLIVIATIS-ISLAMI TALKS

The very good atmosphere in the Greek-Albanian relations was confirmed in the talks Greek Foreign Minister Petros Moliviatis had in Athens today with his Albanian counterpart Kastriot Islami.

In the meeting they discussed developments in the region and Albania's European and Euro-Atlantic prospect. They also discussed bilateral relations and the Greek Foreign Minister characterized them as strategic and with a firm base.

Mr. Moliviatis stated that regarding the Greek minority it is self-evident that the respect of minorities is a main factor for the further promotion of friendship and cooperation and the strengthening of Albania's European prospect.

The Greek Foreign Minister also pointed out that the Albanian immigrants in Greece contribute to the economic growth of Albania and the Greek economic life. He added that isolated fanatic and extreme behaviors both in Albania and Greece will not be allowed to affect the positive development of the multileveled bilateral relations.

Mr. Islami characterized the Greek minority in Albania and the Albanian immigrants in Greece as bridges of cooperation between the two countries and thanked the Greek Foreign Minister for the official Greek policy when dealing with Albanian immigrants in Greece. He also assured that the Albanian government will implement all the rights provided for by the European acquis for minorities and stressed that isolated and sporadic phenomena will not affect bilateral relations.

[04] ROUSOPOULOS ON THE CHINOOK AFFAIR

There are no indications of sabotage. The existing indications point at a technical failure, stated Greek government spokesman Thodoris Rousopoulos when asked to comment on the causes of the Chinook crash near Mount Athos last Saturday.

Regarding the likelihood to pull up the Chinook helicopter from the bottom of the sea, Mr. Rousopoulos stated that it is very difficult and almost impossible because of the great depth. He added, however, that the search continues. Mr. Rousopoulos stated that the findings of the accident investigation will be out by the end of next week.

[05] LOSSES IN THE ASE

Losses were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index dropped to -0.45% at 2333.23 points, while the volume of transactions was small at 51 million euros.

Of the stocks trading today, 79 had gains and 181 had losses, while the value of 143 stocks remained unchanged.

[06] THE GOV'T SPOKESMAN ON EXPO 2008

Greek government spokesman Thodoris Rousopoulos referred to the meeting held today under Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis with the participation of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Macedonia-Thrace on Thessaloniki's bid to host the EXPO 2008 International Exhibition.

Mr. Rousopoulos stated that the Prime Minister has sent letters to his counterparts from 91 countries making up the body to take the crucial decision and has promoted the Greek bid in all bilateral and multilateral meetings.

The government of New Democracy, stated Mr. Rousopoulos, continued the efforts made by the previous government launched in February 2004.

He referred to the recent meeting the Prime Minister had on the issue with the International Exhibitions Bureau and added that the government is in contact with the other political parties and has briefed them with a letter accompanied by a complete file, while all Greek-origin Parliament deputies abroad have been informed about the Greek bid.

The other candidate cities to host EXPO 2008 are Zaragoza, Spain and Trieste, Italy.

[07] ABOUT 4,000 ATHLETES FROM 140 COUNTRIES IN THE PARALYMPICS

About 4,000 athletes, representing 140 countries in 19 sports, will participate in the ATHENS 2004 Paralympic Games. The Paralympic Games are going to take place on September 17-28, 2004.

During the Paralympic Games, Athens will offer hospitality to 3,000 press officials, 1,000 technical officials and judges, 2,000 team escorts and 2,500 official guests. In order to cover the needs for the organization of the Paralympic Games 35,000 people are employed, with the 15,000 of them being volunteers.

[08] LAWSUIT AGAINST DASSAULT BY RELATIVES OF THE FALCON FREAK ACCIDENT VICTIMS

The relatives of three victims of the freak accident with the Falcon aircraft on September 14, 1999, used for the transportation of the Greek Prime Minister, filed a lawsuit against the aircraft manufacturer Dassault claiming reparation of 80 million euros for moral injury.

The families of journalists Dimitris Pantazopoulos and Nina Asimakopoulou, as well as the family of Nikos Asimakopoulos, the bodyguard of deputy Foreign Minister Giannos Kranidiotis, filed a lawsuit claiming the above mentioned reparation on the grounds of the emotional suffering they endured because of the loss of their loved ones.

According to the lawsuit, the French company is responsible for the problems of the aircraft that led to the tragic accident.

[09] THE PROCEDURE FOR THE ELECTION OF THE NEW PATRIARCH OF ALEXANDRIA TO BE LAUNCHED ON MONDAY

The procedure for the election of a new Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa will be launched on Monday, September 20. Initially, a vicar of the Patriarchate of Alexandria Throne will be elected to oversee the necessary procedures to be followed.

The new Patriarch will have to be elected within a period of one month. Already, those interested have begun expressing their wish to become Patriarch, while their support groups have begun forming.

[10] GREEK EURO-DEPUTIES ON THE BLOWING UP OF A CROSS NEAR A CHURCH IN ALBANIA

Greek Euro-deputies Ioannis Varvitsiotis and Kostis Hatzidakis, elected with the governing party of New Democracy, asked for the immediate intervention of the European Commission regarding the incident in the village Tzara in Albania where a cross, near the church of St. Dimitrios, was blown up by the Albanian authorities.

For the record, a few days ago Albanian police officers, without offering any explanations to the local authorities in Tzara, placed explosives around the cross next to the church of St. Dimitrios and blew it up. The action took place after pressures exerted by the Albanian mass media because it appears that the cross was annoying to the archaeological site nearby.

Mr. Varvitsiotis and Mr. Hatzidakis stated that such incidents of religious and nationalist fanaticism seriously hurt bilateral relations, stressing that the ethnic Greek minority in Albania and the Albanian immigrants in Greece should become a bridge of cooperation and friendship. They mentioned that Albania, which wants a European prospect, has an obligation to comprehend this message, adding that mutual respect and understanding will serve better the interests of both sides.

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