In Brief
PPC RESIGNATION
Head of power company steps down from helm, no reason given The managing director of Public Power Corporation (PPC), Dimitris Maniatakis, resigned from his position yesterday in an unexpected move but said that he will remain with the company to assist with its operations abroad. Development Minister Dimitris Sioufas accepted the resignation and thanked him for his contribution to the state-controlled power company. Maniatakis did not given any reason for his resignation. (Page 5) N17 APPEAL Judges order key member of group to be brought to court by force Judges yesterday ordered Christodoulos Xeros, a key member of the November 17 terrorist organization, to be brought to court by force today after he failed to attend yesterday’s session. N17 members are appealing their prison sentences but Xeros refused to go to court yesterday and said he no longer wanted to take part in the appeals process. However, four of his co-defendants said that Xeros had to be present to answer questions relevant to their defense. SHARK TALE Rarely seen breed netted off Crete A breed of shark which is rarely seen in the Mediterranean was caught in the nets of a Greek fishing boat off the coast of Crete yesterday. Experts at the Hellenic Center for Marine Research (ELKETHE) identified the animal as a ragged-tooth or smalltooth sand tiger shark (Odontaspis ferox). The shark measured 3.5 meters in length and was netted three nautical miles off the coast of Crete at a depth of 250 meters. Experts said it is extremely rare for this type of shark to be caught in fishing nets in the Mediterranean as it usually lives at great depths in warm, tropical waters. Aslam hearing The decision of whether to extradite Javed Aslam, the head of the Pakistani Unity Organization, to Islamabad on human-trafficking charges will be made on Friday, the council of appeals court judges said yesterday. Pakistan alleges that Aslam was involved in smuggling illegal immigrants into Greece but his supporters say he is being targeted because he spoke out against the alleged interrogation of Pakistani migrants in July last year. Violent youths Youths clashed with police and spray-painted buses outside the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) in the city center yesterday afternoon. A group of about 20 youths were involved, according to officers. They threw rocks at two patrol cars and vandalized buses as they ran in and out of NTUA grounds. Police said the youths also set fire to a dumpster and pushed it into the middle of Patission Street. Cretan blast A homemade bomb exploded outside a motorcycle dealership in the village of Pasakaki near Hania, Crete, early yesterday. Police said that a number of motorcycles were destroyed but nobody was injured. The owner of the store told police he was baffled by the attack because he had not recently had an argument or falling-out with anyone. Prep year Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos said yesterday that he does not expect substantial progress on efforts to reunite the islands until after Turkish general elections, which are due in November. «It is my belief… that 2007, even if it does not offer itself for a breakthrough, [could] certainly be a most useful year in preparing the ground for future talks,» he told journalists. Banks attacked A homemade explosive device went off yesterday outside a branch of Eurobank in Palaio Faliron in southern Athens, damaging the bank’s entrance and two ATM machines, police said. At the same time in Pangrati, eastern Athens, someone detonated nine gas canisters outside a branch of Open 24, a Eurobank subsidiary, but police extinguished the fire, which caused only minor damage. Peaceful anarchists A group of 40 to 50 anarchists took over offices belonging to the prefecture of Iraklion, Crete, yesterday to protest the police custody of three men arrested in May 2006 for allegedly taking part in street riots. The anarchists, who did not block senior municipal officials from reaching their offices, peacefully ended their protest action at around midday.
