Police in Thessaloniki were yesterday investigating claims that a local businessman had been kidnapped and that his abductors had demanded a ransom of 400,000 euros. Officers did not name the entrepreneur but said that he was active in the trucking industry. The alleged kidnapping comes just four months after the abduction in Thessaloniki of industrialist Giorgos Mylonas, who was released after 13 days in captivity.

Public Works Minister Giorgos Souflias was discharged from the hospital in Alexandroupolis yesterday after being admitted overnight. Souflias was taken to the hospital after fainting during a visit to a nearby national park. Souflias said he had been given the all clear by the doctors who put the incident down to excessive stress.

An earthquake measuring 4.4 on the Richter scale struck 50 kilometers north of Athens in the gulf south of Evia at 7.20 p.m. yesterday. The tremor was felt in Athens but did not cause any damage.

A 49-year-old Roma man and four adolescents believed to be his children were being questioned by police on Saturday in connection with a string of burglaries in Athens and the southern suburbs. The youngsters, aged between 11 and 16, were allegedly involved in some 76 burglaries.