In Brief
ARSON ARREST
Man caught while allegedly trying to set fire to Aigion scrubland A 29-year-old carpenter has been arrested in the northern Peloponnesian town of Aigion on suspicion of trying to set fire to scrubland. Police arrested the unnamed man late on Thursday and found containers of flammable liquid in his possession. Four wildfires were reported in Aigion on Thursday night but were quickly put out. It was not immediately clear if authorities were linking the 29-year-old to these fires. Meanwhile, authorities on the Ionian island of Cephalonia are gathering evidence to put on trial a family of livestock breeders alleged to be behind a forest fire there recently. BOND PROBE Zorbas completes four-month investigation into sale of note Giorgos Zorbas, the head of the committee formed to combat money laundering, yesterday submitted to Athens prosecutor Panayiotis Poulios the findings of his investigation into the sale of a 280-million-euro Greek government bond to four pension funds. Zorbas was looking into whether the commission on the bond sale generated unlawful earnings. The probe lasted more than four months but details were not made public yesterday. Poulios will asses the report and decide whether charges should be filed against any of those implicated. FIREFIGHTING HELP Another Russian helicopter on way A third Russian helicopter was expected to arrive in Athens yesterday to help boost the country’s firefighting efforts this summer, authorities said. An Mi-26 helicopter will be added to the two Russian Mi-8 helicopters that have already arrived in Greece and have taken part in recent firefighting operations. Last month, Russia also sent a BE-200 plane after Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis asked for aid from Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Explosive find The Nafplion coast guard revealed yesterday that it had arrested a 45-year-old man off the coast of the Peloponnesian town after a search of his fishing boat revealed equipment that could be used to cause an explosion. Officers said they found 25 kilos of ammonium nitrate, three fuses, connecting wires and a detonator on the vessel. Ammonium nitrate is usually used in agriculture as a fertilizer but is also used as an oxidizing agent in explosives. The coast guard said the man was arrested last Sunday but did not explain why it had not revealed news of the incident earlier. Warehouses shut Two warehouses in Tavros, southern Athens, used to store a range of good destined for recycling have been shut down because such businesses are allowed to operate only in industrial zones, the Athens Prefecture said yesterday. Used car tires, dilapidated cars and defunct electrical and electronic equipment were among the items being stored at the warehouses, which were situated in a residential area. Proastiakos delay Passengers on the first Proastiakos suburban railway train into Athens from Kiato yesterday suffered a delay of just over an hour because of technical problems on the line. The 6.22 a.m. train from Kiato had to be withdrawn from service at Aghioi Theodoroi and passengers were obliged to wait for the next train. Some 23,000 passengers use the Kiato-Athens line every day. Suspect arrested A 24-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of breaking into 14 cars over the last three years in the greater area of Thessaloniki, police said yesterday. The unnamed suspect, believed to have targeted mostly car sound systems, is also accused of breaking into a construction site and an art studio where he took tools and a computer, police added. Rape charge Police have arrested a 27-year-old man in Kozani, northern Greece, for attempted rape. The suspect is accused of attempting to rape a 20-year-old woman on Thursday night. His intended victim managed to escape.
