In Brief
LEBANON VISIT
Bakoyannis calls for calm in Beirut and greater EU involvement Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis appealed for calm in Lebanon yesterday, a day after the assassination of anti-Syrian MP Walid Eido, as she concluded her third visit to Beirut in a year. Bakoyannis met with Foreign Minister Tareq Mitri, who expressed his thanks to Greece for its support. «Our message is clear and honest – end the cycle of violence,» said Bakoyannis who called for greater involvement by the European Union in efforts to resolve the crisis in Lebanon. She also called on Arab countries to help ease the situation. WALDHEIM DIES Former UN, Austrian chief served in Nazi army in Greece during WWII Kurt Waldheim, a former United Nations secretary-general and Austrian president whose reputation was tarnished by disclosures he had concealed his past in Nazi Germany’s officer corps – including the time he served in Greece – died yesterday aged 88. Waldheim died of heart failure following a short illness. Waldheim admitted concealing his service with Hitler’s Wehrmacht in the Balkans but always denied knowing that thousands of Greek Jews were deported from the port of Thessaloniki, just 6 kilometers from where he was based for many months in the Second World War. BY THE BOOK Giannakou ready to unveil tome Education Minister Marietta Giannakou said yesterday that the necessary changes to a controversial primary school history textbook have been made and the new version will be issued after she has approved it. «The book is an academic matter, not a political one with which some people can toy,» Giannakou told journalists. Parts of the book were rewritten after complaints that it brushed over significant moments in Greek history. Landfill appeal The Prefecture of Western Attica said yesterday that it was intending to take its case against a new landfill being created in the region to the European Council. The prefecture said that the creation of the dump at Fyli would harm local people’s health. The issue was discussed yesterday by Western Attica prefect Aristidis Arkoudiaris and Public Works and Environment Minister Giorgos Souflias. The latter pledged that his ministry would take steps to prevent any future flooding of the Eschatia stream, which recently burst its banks and flooded homes in Menidi and Liosia. German reparations Relatives of 214 Greek civilians executed by Nazi troops on June 10, 1944 in the village of Distomo in central Greece have won a victory in their decade-long battle to force Germany to pay war reparations, after successfully bringing their case to Italy and filing a legal claim on a German-owned villa near Lake Como. (Page 2) Fraud suspect A 56-year-old man was arrested in Athens yesterday accused of using stolen identity cards to buy 26 luxury cars on finance over the last four years. The suspect is believed to have stolen the identity cards from drug users he approached in Omonia Square, central Athens. EFET fines The Hellenic Food Authority (EFET) said yesterday it had fined eight food companies 73,000 euros after inspection teams found they had failed to comply with health regulations. Among the companies fined were biscuit company Elbisco and DIA supermarkets. Heroin arrest A 30-year-old Albanian man has been arrested in the Kalamaria area of Thessaloniki after police found in his possession 21 grams of heroin and 540 euros in cash believed to have been earned from drug-related activities. In a separate incident, police discovered a cannabis plantation with 160 plants up to 1.5 meters high in Ioannina, northern Greece. Police arrested a 40-year-old man in connection with the illegal cultivation. A search of his home revealed a further 11 cannabis plants, authorities added. Traffic interruption Traffic will be interrupted on Attiki Odos close to Nerantziotissa, on the airport-bound lane, for about 10 hours on Saturday night while construction crews erect a foot-bridge across the highway. Work is expected to begin at 11 p.m.
