In Brief
ANGELOU BAILED
Former PM’s aide answers questions about Vatopedi deal Ex-Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis’s former right-hand man, Yiannis Angelou, was yesterday released on bail after being questioned by investigating magistrate Eirini Kalou over his alleged role in the real-estate swap between the Vatopedi Monastery and the state. Angelou denies charges of being the moral instigator of the swap, which saw the monastery obtain prime property in return for giving the state less-valuable land. Angelou, who was in charge of Karamanlis’s office while he was premier, was questioned for 11 hours yesterday but declined to speak to journalists after giving testimony. CYPRUS WARNING Eroglu warns of impasse Turkish-Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu yesterday accused authorities in Nicosia of intransigence and warned that the failure to reach a settlement for the divided island by the end of the year would be a serious setback in the latest peace drive. «Drawing out the negotiations into next year will eliminate the chance for an agreement or at least shelve the matter for a very long time,» said Eroglu. «The end of this year is a turning point,» he added. Speaking during a military parade marking the 36th anniversary of Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus, Eroglu also ruled out the return of the Varosia area of Famagusta to the Greek Cypriots and called on Nicosia to discuss the resolution of their differences with the Turkish-Cypriot administration and not with Ankara. Thessaloniki mayor Former Deputy Interior Minister and current New Democracy MP for Thessaloniki Costas Gioulekas said yesterday that he would be standing as a candidate for mayor in the northern port city in the November 7 local elections. Gioulekas said that he would stand as an independent candidate. «I have absolutely no ties to any political party, nor any businessman or any other figures.» Gioulekas said that he was giving up his parliamentary seat because «I want to offer whatever I can to this city.» Current Thessaloniki Mayor Vassilis Papageorgopoulos yesterday condemned the government’s decision to freeze the municipality’s bank accounts while inspectors investigate alleged tax irregularities. Jam withdrawn The Hellenic Food Authority (EFET) yesterday announced the recall of more than 1,000 jars of a German brand of strawberry jam following a complaint lodged by a consumer in Germany that shards of glass had been found in the product. The sugar-free product’s brand name is Lihn. Tragic fall A 53-year-old homeless man died yesterday after falling from the fourth floor of a municipal hostel in Athens. The man had been under observation since his discharge a few months earlier from a psychiatric clinic. The circumstances of his fall remained unclear late yesterday. Elderly gunman Police in Corinth yesterday detained an 84-year-old man after a search of his home in the small town of Melissi turned up several guns and dozens of rounds of ammunition. The man was to face a prosecutor on charges of illegal weapons possession later yesterday.
