In Brief
BERISHA VISIT
Karamanlis holds impromptu talks with Albanian counterpart in Athens Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis had a half-hour meeting with his Albanian counterpart Sali Berisha in Athens yesterday. Berisha had been on his way back from Iraq and requested a meeting with Karamanlis during a brief stopover in Athens. No official details of what was discussed during the meeting were given but sources indicated that Berisha apologized for a protest by Albanian Cams last month that led to President Karolos Papoulias cutting short a visit to Albania. AGRAPIDIS SENTENCED Piraeus mayor given suspended term for allowing cafes on ancient site A Piraeus court handed a 12-month suspended jail sentence to Piraeus Mayor Christos Agrapidis for giving shopowners licenses to place tables and chairs on a beachside area which is a protected archaeological site. Agrapidis denied the charge and said that the issuing of these permits fell under the jurisdiction of current independent MP Petros Mandouvalos, who was the deputy mayor of Piraeus at the time. ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM Competition for extension next year Deputy Culture Minister Petros Tatoulis said yesterday that the government will launch an international competition next year to find an architect to design an underground extension to the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. He said the project would be covered by European Union funding but did not say how much the expansion will cost nor when it would be completed. Suicide death A retired naval officer who set himself on fire died yesterday from his injuries. Giorgos Lymberopoulos, aged 64, doused himself in white spirit and then set fire to himself on Wednesday after the murder of his wife for which he was the main suspect. N17 trial Lawyers Yiannis Rouchiotis and Costas Chrysikopoulos yesterday refused a request by the court hearing the appeal of members of the November 17 terrorist group to be reassigned to defend the organization’s leader Alexandros Yotopoulos. Before going into recess until January 3, the court said it was appointing Efstathios Vlantis, Constantinos Zacharakis and Yiannis Iliadis to defend Yotopoulos in his absence. Pork chopped The Hellenic Food Authority (EFET) yesterday asked cold-cuts producer Yfantis to withdraw 20 tons of pork imported from Denmark after European authorities informed the watchdog that salmonella had been detected in the product. Winter sales The winter retail sales period will start on January 23 and will run for five weeks, the Development Ministry said yesterday. Arsonists strike Eight cars and a motorcycle were set on fire and destroyed in the Nea Smyrni neighborhood of Athens during a 20-minute period early yesterday morning, police said. No arrests were made. Bedroom studio Two men were arrested in Thessaloniki yesterday for turning their apartment into a television studio that transmitted pornographic material and promoted telephone sex lines. Police are searching for a third man believed to be connected with the station. Trafficking arrests Three Greeks were arrested in the northwestern region of Epirus for trafficking illegal immigrants, police said yesterday. In separate incidents, the three unnamed men had been ferrying a total of 19 Albanian migrants, officers said. Beached skeleton Locals found a human skeleton buried on a beach in the village of Drepano, near Igoumenitsa, northwestern Greece, police said yesterday. Officers sent the skeleton to coroners in Ioannina.
