In Brief
MIDDLE EAST
Greeks in Palestinian territories ‘safe,’ outrage at Israeli violence, expulsions Foreign Minister George Papandreou said yesterday that Greek consular authorities in Jerusalem were doing everything possible to protect nearly 500 Greeks in occupied Palestinian territories who were reportedly safe. Meanwhile, Parliament Speaker Apostolos Kaklamanis condemned Sunday’s expulsion by Israel of a delegation of Cypriot MPs attempting to visit besieged Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, branding it «fascist provocation,» and called on the EU to take action. Israel’s action was «psychological violence,» said Cypriot government spokesman Michalis Papapetrou. Archbishop Christodoulos yesterday expressed concern about the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, where some 200 Palestinian gunmen have sought sanctuary from besieging forces. KAZAKOS TRIAL Racist killer’s appeal postponed An Athens appeals court yesterday postponed to November the trial of Pandelis Kazakos – convicted of killing two foreigners and attempting to kill another seven in a string of racially motivated attacks in central Athens in October 1999 – due to the absence of crucial witnesses. Kazakos, 26, received two life sentences and a 25-year jail sentence for the murder of a Kurd and a Georgian and the attempted homicide of an Egyptian, two Kurds, two Africans and two Palestinians. Five of the seven are permanently disabled. FATAL CRASH Four die in Cretan accident Four people – including two children – were killed and two others seriously injured late on Sunday night when two cars collided on the road from Hania to Kissamos on Crete. Andreas Kazazakis, 21, was burnt to death when his car burst into flames after veering into the opposite lane and crashing into a car driven by Maria Koutsoureli, 44. Koutsoureli survived the crash and is in intensive care with her friend’s daughter, Niki Frangedaki, 9. Her son Ioannis, 9, her friend Maria Frangedaki, 34, and Anna Androulaki, 14, were killed instantly. Shot dead The body of a 28-year-old Albanian was discovered riddled with bullets early yesterday morning on the road from Vari to Koropi, southeast of Athens, by a passer-by. A coroner ruled that Kola Kumi – who had been shot five times in the head, once in the neck and once in the chest – died on Sunday night, prompting police suspicions that he may have been killed elsewhere and then dumped. Kalash seminar A seminar aiming to protect the identity and improve the living conditions of the Pakistan-based Kalash people – self-professed descendants of the soldiers of Alexander the Great – is being held today at Thessaloniki’s School of Economics by the non-governmental organization «Greek Volunteers.» State television channel ET3 will air a fund-raising telethon for the Kalash on Saturday. Blind baby The parents of a 4-year-old boy who lost the use of one eye while he was being treated in the infant ward of Thessaloniki’s Ippokrateio hospital yesterday sued doctors for not conducting a test which could have detected the problem before it became an untreatable defect. Ioannis and Penelope Kordaki say their baby, who had been kept in an incubator for six weeks after his premature birth, may not have lost his sight if doctors had conducted a test which detects the risk of retina detachment. Doctored alcohol Financial Crime Squad Officers yesterday confiscated 12,000 bottles of adulterated alcoholic drinks from a warehouse behind Thessaloniki’s central vegetable market which they believe were destined for distribution to retailers and bar owners across the northern city. The precise contents of nearly all the bottles could not be defined. Slovakia support President Costis Stephanopoulos, in Bratislava yesterday for a three-day official visit, said Greece was fully supportive of Slovakia’s joint bid for NATO and EU membership.
