The leader of Synaspismos Left Coalition Alekos Alavanos was the host this weekend of the first congress of the European Left Party, a movement of 17 leftist parties from all over Europe. The meeting was held in Athens and ended yesterday with the adoption of the Athens Declaration in which members called for unity among leftist parties to combat neoliberalism, unemployment, social exclusion and strict immigration laws. Fausto Bertinotti of the Italian Rifondazione party was re-elected as president of the European Left Party.

Rescue teams were searching late yesterday for a 37-year-old man in Mount Athos who had been reported missing since Saturday morning. Police said that the man had gone fishing off the shore close to the Monastery of Pantokratoras, where he was staying. A Super Puma helicopter and coast guard teams from Athens took part in the rescue operation.

Police arrested two men on Saturday close to Edessa, northern Greece, after finding 82 kilos of cannabis on the truck they were driving. The drugs were found in 79 parcels hidden in a false bottom compartment of the truck, which had Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia license plates. Police said that they later arrested a third man in Thessaloniki in connection to the cannabis.

A 35-year-old foreign truckdriver attempting to smuggle some 123,000 packets of cigarettes out of the country was arrested in Igoumenitsa, western Greece, early yesterday after customs officials found the packets hidden in timber pallets in his truck. Authorities said that the Czech Republic-bound truck was about to board a ship.

Turkish-Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat met with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday in Washington, where the two discussed a UN-sponsored unification plan of the divided island. Talat said he sensed strong US support for the plan. “Our ultimate goal is to find a solution to the Cyprus problem, to unify the island,” he said. Rice did not speak to reporters after the meeting.

A 62-year-old man was taken to a prosecutor in Drama, northern Greece, on Saturday after police found in his possession pornographic material with images of underage boys. Authorities said that a further search of the man’s house uncovered 26 videotapes, some containing indecent material.

Police said on Saturday that they had arrested two Greeks and an Albanian national in Orestiada, close to the Greek-Turkish border, who were transporting 15 illegal immigrants, all from Pakistan. The men were transporting the migrants via three cars for a fee, police said.