In Brief
TALKING TURKEY
Bakoyannis says PM’s Ankara trip will boost neighbors’ diplomacy Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis told Sunday’s Kathimerini that Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis’s recent trip to Turkey is likely to lead to more frequent and higher-level talks between the two countries. Bakoyannis denied, however, that Greece had made any deals to convince Ankara to reopen the Halki Orthodox Seminary. In her interview, Bakoyannis also argued that the government needs to get over the Zachopoulos affair and refocus on its reform policies. TEENAGER SHOT Boy, 16, wounded during argument A 16-year-old boy was rushed to hospital in Athens on Saturday night after being shot in the stomach during an apparent argument between Albanian youths in the northern suburb of Maroussi. Doctors said yesterday that the teenager was out of danger. Police who are investigating the shooting said the cause of the argument was personal differences. Suspects freed Seven suspects detained after an attack on a police medical center in Athens were freed on Saturday, authorities said yesterday. A group of about 20 youths attacked a medical unit used to treat police officers, smashing windows and throwing paint. Police detained the suspects but let them go shortly afterward without making any arrests. There were no reports of injuries. Patras shaken An earthquake measuring 4.2 on the Richter scale shook the area of Patras early yesterday but there were no reports of injuries or damage. The tremor struck the area at 2.03 a.m. and its epicenter was in the nearby town of Halandritsa. Grenade found Police found a hand grenade in Kallithea, southern Athens, in a car belonging to a man wanted by police. Bomb experts are examining the grenade as police launched a manhunt for the suspect, a foreign national. No further information was provided. ATM blast Would-be robbers failed in an audacious attempt to blow open an ATM on Crete, police said yesterday. The assailants placed an improvised explosive device next to the cash machine in Ierapetra but only managed to set off the alarm. Police arrived soon after but the suspects had already fled empty-handed. The explosion caused damage estimated at around 3,000 euros. Church firebombed Two men on a scooter threw two petrol bombs at the Taxiarchon church in Thessaloniki on Saturday morning, police said. No arrests were made. There was no clear motive for the attack, which caused only minor damage. Illegal immigrants A coast guard patrol boat detained 20 illegal immigrants and one suspected trafficker off the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos yesterday, the Merchant Marine Ministry said yesterday. The migrants, 10 men, five women and five children, were found in an inflatable boat. Their nationality was not revealed. The alleged smuggler is a 41-year-old foreign national, officers said. Meanwhile, six people were also detained at the port of Patras when they tried to board a ferry using forged documents.
