The US Embassy in Athens yesterday issued a statement refuting press reports of alleged criticism by embassy officials of Public Order Minister Vyron Polydoras and the Greek police following last month’s missile attack on the embassy. “The US Embassy again expresses its satisfaction with the professional response of Greek law enforcement agencies to the January 12... attack,” the statement said. Cooperation between Greek police officers and US officials “has been excellent,” the statement added. Leftist group Revolutionary Struggle claimed responsibility for the attack which did not cause any injuries.

A Greek tanker carrying 110,000 tons of crude oil ran aground off the Gulf of Finland early yesterday but no injuries or fuel spillage were reported. The Propontis, which had a crew of 25, had been bound for Western Europe from the Russian oil port of Primorsk, Finnish refiner Neste Oil was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The Culture Ministry has refused to lend the Louvre Praxitelis’s famous sculpture “The Ephebe of Marathon” for inclusion in an exhibition dedicated to the ancient Greek sculptor, stressing that the artifact is on a list of works that cannot be moved. The ministry’s Central Archaeological Council decided to refuse the French museum’s request on January 23 on the grounds of this list, Culture Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis said. Voulgarakis’s French counterpart Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres had earlier described Greece’s refusal as “very sad.”

An Athens appeals court yesterday upheld a three-and-a-half-year jail sentence against a former judge found guilty of bribery. Evangelos Kalousis was found guilty of offering to release a defendant from custody in exchange for 145,000 euros. Kalousis had denied the charges.