In Brief
Resignation
Zakynthos mayor steps down in wake of financial scandal allegations The mayor of Zakynthos, Akis Tsagaropoulos, handed in his resignation yesterday after being charged earlier this week with setting fire to the municipality’s offices. Tsagaropoulos has been accused of arson in order to cover up evidence of his involvement in a financial scandal involving a 10-million-euro bank loan. Tsagaropoulos said he decided to step down to avoid creating problems for the operation of the municipality due to his alleged involvement in the crime. He has been remanded in custody. WATER PROTEST Oropos official files suit over heavily polluted water in their area The mayor of Oropos, north of Athens, yesterday filed a legal suit against all parties responsible for the high toxicity of the municipality’s drinking water and invited local manufacturers, believed to be causing the pollution, to talks on solving the problem. «We don’t have to meet only in court,» Giorgos Gavriil told Kathimerini. «We must remind them that that it is a crime to pollute the (River) Asopos with their waste and that they should finally use environmentally friendly materials to create their products,» he added. Tests on drinking water in Oropos and the nearby municipality of Oinofyta have revealed high levels of depleted chromium. «Every day we test the water, and every day we find it is dangerous,» Gavriil said. ID CARDS Police at ready for election rush The departments in police stations that issue identification cards will be open from 7.30 a.m. to 10 p.m. tomorrow and Sunday to help people wanting to update their documents so they can vote in Sunday’s general elections, the Public Order Ministry said yesterday. In the case of stolen, lost or damaged ID cards, holders will be immediately issued with a new ID card, provided they submit the required papers, the ministry said. US ambassador Washington yesterday officially announced the appointment of Daniel Speckhardt as the new US ambassador to Athens. Speckhardt, formerly the charge d’affaires at the US Embassy in Baghdad, replaces Charles Ries, who left Athens for Baghdad in June. Speckhardt was America’s ambassador to Cyprus from 1997 to 2000 and subsequently worked as an aide to NATO’s secretary-general. Abduction claims A Pakistani man yesterday revived claims that Greek and British agents had abducted 13 immigrants in July 2005 for questioning in connection with the terrorist bombings in London. Hauep Ifran, 36, said he had been kidnapped from Ano Petralona, southern Athens, and driven to a secret location, interrogated, beaten and then released three days later. «We were afraid, we didn’t know what was in store for us,» said Ifran. The Greek and British governments have denied any part in the alleged abductions. Pickpockets caught Police in Thessaloniki have arrested four people on suspicion of stealing the wallets of at least 29 people. Officers said yesterday that the two men and two women stole more than 25,000 euros from their unsuspecting victims. All of the suspects are Bulgarian nationals. The two women are both aged 20, the men are 40 and 46. Police believe that the women were sent out by the two men to pick people’s pockets in busy shopping malls or banks in Thessaloniki between November 2005 and June 2006. Hit-and-run A 38-year-old teacher accused of running over a 3-year-old girl in a schoolyard and then abandoning the injured child is due to face trial tomorrow. The unnamed female teacher allegedly struck the child with her car while trying to move the vehicle from the grounds of the school in Chrysopoulis, northern Greece, before the inauguration ceremony on Tuesday. The woman denies fleeing the scene of the accident. The child is still being treated in stable condition in the hospital after suffering head and chest injuries. Heroin bust Police arrested a man and a woman, aged 23 and 26, in Thessaloniki’s Sikies area yesterday for possessing 3.5 kilos of heroin, authorities said. Police also found in their possesion small amounts of cannabis and sedatives. Separately, a 28-year-old man was also arrested in for possesion of 340 grams of cannabis.
