In Brief
ATHENS RESPONDS
reece rebuffs second FYROM letter to European Commission Athens yesterday rebuffed a second attempt by the government of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to broach the issue of a supposed Macedonian minority in Greece with the European Commission. Commenting on a letter sent by FYROM’s Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki to Leonard Orban, the commissioner for multilingualism, addressing the issue of a purported Macedonian minority and language, alternate government spokesman Evangelos Antonaros referred to «an initiative with no real aim apart from that of derailing the [negotiation] process.» STREET SHOOTING Gunman strikes in Kallithea A 42-year-old man was shot dead early yesterday morning in the southern Athens neighborhood of Kallithea in what appears to have been a contract killing, police said yesterday. The victim, an unnamed Albanian national, was shot while sitting in his car at the junction of Platonos and Ilektras streets. Witnesses told police that a gunman shot him at point-blank range and then walked away from the scene of the crime. Officers did not issue a description of the suspect. Istanbul bombings Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis sent a letter of condolence to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday after 17 people were killed in two bomb blasts in Istanbul. Embezzlement An investigation into finances at the ILPAP trolley bus company has revealed that some 125,000 euros in funds are missing from its coffers, sources said yesterday. Three employees from the department that deals with tickets and receipts will face a disciplinary committee following the probe. It was not clear if they are suspected of stealing tickets or actual funds. Border arrests Guards on Greece’s northeastern borders have arrested 159 illegal immigrants and eight suspected traffickers in the last 24 hours, authorities said yesterday. The migrants were caught after crossing the Evros River. Officers also seized two trucks and three vehicles. Salonica trash Local authorities in Thessaloniki yesterday closed down the saturated Tagarades landfill following the expiry of a 42-day extension for its operation. The aim had been for the old dump to operate until an alternative solution was found for the northern city’s waste-management problem. A new landfill in the district of Mavrorachi has the capacity to solve the city’s garbage problem but its operation is expected to be blocked by residents who object to it being set up in their area. KTEL crash Two people were killed near Kozani in northern Greece yesterday when the car in which they were traveling crashed into a KTEL intercity bus. The bus was traveling between Thessaloniki and Kastoria. Nobody on board was injured. Bank holdup An armed robber held up a branch of Alpha Bank in Thessaloniki yesterday and made off with 11,520 euros, police said. Nobody was hurt in the raid.
