In Brief
ILIOU DEAD
Historian was a Synaspismos candidate MP for Athens Distinguished historian Philippos Iliou, a candidate in tomorrow’s election for Synaspismos Left Coalition in Athens, died of cancer yesterday at the age of 73. The son of the prominent left-wing politician Ilias Iliou, he founded the Modern Social History Archives and produced numerous studies on the Greek enlightenment, Greek literature and modern Greek history. Prime Minister Costas Simitis and New Democracy leader Costas Karamanlis paid homage to Iliou, whom Synaspismos leader Nikos Constantopoulos described as «a unique human being, who lived for an ideal.» FYROM SUPPORT Yiannitsis pledges to back country’s EU bid following Trajkovski’s funeral Foreign Minister Tassos Yiannitsis yesterday reiterated Greece’s support for the European orientation of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, after attending the funeral in Skopje of the country’s former president, Boris Trajkovski, who died in a plane crash at the end of last month. Noting that Trajkovski had strived for peace and stability in FYROM, Yiannitsis said the country was in a position to meet the criteria for EU candidacy, and stressed that Greece would support Skopje’s eventual bid to join the EU. PHAROS UNDERPASS Traffic disruptions until Wednesday Traffic on Kifissias Avenue near the Pharos underpass in Psychico, Athens, will be disrupted between midnight and 5 a.m. from today until Wednesday, the Public Works Ministry said yesterday. Between these hours, one lane of Kifissia-bound traffic will be shut down between Adrianou and Papanastasiou streets, the ministry said. Jerusalem patriarch Deputy Foreign Minister Yiannis Magriotis yesterday expressed his «complete satisfaction» following a decision by Israel’s Supreme Court to reject appeals lodged against the formal recognition of Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Irenaios. Magriotis called the decision «an exceptionally positive development.» Flight delays A technical problem which affected the electronic check-in system at Athens’s International Airport at about 5.30 a.m. yesterday caused nine flights to be badly delayed. The system was fully operational again shortly after 6 a.m. The airport saw heavier incoming and outgoing air traffic yesterday as Greeks set off to their constituencies to vote in tomorrow’s elections. Railway route The Hellenic Railway Organization (OSE) said yesterday that it has decided to order four new trains for the picturesque Diakofto-Kalavryta route in the northern Peloponnese. The 17.67-million euro contract for the purchase of the trains is due to be signed at the end of next week. The first train is to be delivered in 28 months, with the remaining three over the subsequent eight months, OSE said. Vandalism Unidentified vandals caused damage to offices of ruling PASOK and opposition New Democracy in the eastern Athenian district of Vyronas at around 2.30 a.m. yesterday. The assailants used empty beer bottles and stones to smash the windows of ND’s office on Formionos Street and then PASOK’s office on Panagi Tsaldari Street around 10 minutes later. Police believe the culprits are probably linked to Exarchia-based anarchists. Heroin haul A 34-year-old Albanian who tried to smuggle 17.5 kilograms of heroin into Greece through the Kakavia border crossing has been arrested, Albanian police said yesterday. The man, identified as Arian Gjoni, had hidden the drugs in a false floor of the Greek-registered vehicle he was driving, a police spokesman said. It was the second major interception of heroin bound for Greece in the past three months, he added. Ferry collision An open passenger ferry sailing into the port of Rio, in the western Peloponnese, last night collided into another passenger ferry moored at the pier. None of the passengers of the incoming Nikolaos A were hurt although the boatswain, who had been in the vessel’s bows at the time, was injured. The extent of his injuries were unclear. Both ferries sustained damage.
