In Brief
ASPROPYRGOS VIOLENCE
Black Sea ethnic Greeks in Gypsy camp rampage; 25 arrests Dozens of ethnic Greek immigrants from the former Soviet Union yesterday evening attacked a Gypsy settlement in the northwestern Athens suburb of Aspropyrgos, throwing stones and burning four cars and three shacks. Officers arrested 25 suspected attackers, who fled in cars but were spotted by a police helicopter and cornered by motorcycle policemen. Riot police were stationed in the area to contain any resurgence of violence. Police believe the assault was a revenge attack for Sunday’s beating of a cafe owner – an ethnic Greek immigrant from the Black Sea region – by a large group of Gypsies who did not want to pay their bill. ELA SUSPECTS Court rules to extend detention of three alleged terrorists by six months Revolutionary Popular Struggle (ELA) terrorism suspects Angeletos Kanas, Costas Agapiou and Irini Athanassaki are to be detained for another six months, according to a decision by Athens’s Council of Appeals Court Judges, which was made public yesterday. The judges backed the proposal of a prosecutor who had described all three suspects as «particularly dangerous individuals… likely to commit similar crimes if released…» The trial of five ELA suspects begins next Monday. MIGRANT DEATH 20-year-old man dies of hypothermia A 20-year-old illegal immigrant, found in a field near the Thracian village of Lavara close to the Turkish border early yesterday morning, later died of hypothermia and heart failure in Didymoteicho hospital. His name was not released. On Friday, the bodies of five illegal immigrants were found near the village of Feres in Thrace. The men are believed to have frozen to death after crossing the border during a blizzard. Train fares New ticket prices for intercity train journeys will apply from February 10 when the new, swifter Athens-Thessaloniki route starts operating, the Hellenic Railways Organization said yesterday. Commuters traveling on the four-hour-and-30-minute route (stopping at Lianokladi and Larissa) will pay 69.30 euros and 55.20 euros for first- and second-class tickets to Thessaloniki. Those traveling on the four-hour-and-49-minute route (stopping at Lianokladi, Larissa, Katerini and Platy) will pay 64.30 euros and 50.20 euros respectively. Mobile disruptions Mobile phone users in and around Nikaia, southwestern Athens, may experience some problems with reception from tomorrow, following yesterday’s decision by the municipal council to dismantle all the mobile telephony transmitters within its boundaries from then. Municipal authorities announced that owners of homes hosting such transmitters would be fined. Bus accident Three passengers and the driver of an intercity bus were injured yesterday after the vehicle, which was en route to Xanthi from Drama, plunged into a 10-meter ravine near the village of Dafnonas in the municipality of Stavroupolis. The injured driver and passengers were transferred to Xanthi’s prefectural hospital for treatment, but the extent of their injuries was unclear. The remaining five passengers were unharmed. Police were not certain what caused the accident but noted that the road surface in the area is often dangerous in winter due to black ice. Boutros-Ghali PASOK’s leader-in-waiting George Papandreou is to receive the former secretary-general of the United Nations, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, at the Foreign Ministry this afternoon. Boutros-Ghali yesterday met opposition New Democracy leader Costas Karamanlis and Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyannis. Boutros-Ghali and Karamanlis discussed the Cyprus issue and developments in the southeastern Mediterranean. Bakoyannis awarded the former UN chief the medal of the city of Athens. Farmers protest Protesting olive growers caused traffic problems when they blocked off public service offices and the center of the Cretan port of Hania yesterday. Producers are threatening to step up action unless they receive the higher subsidy payments they are demanding for the oil they produce. Deputy Agriculture Minister Evangelos Argyris yesterday said a ministry delegation would arrive in Hania today to examine appeals on a case-by-case basis.
