Greek Paper: Israelis Tried to Sell Arms to Iran

Israeli arms dealers tried to send spare parts for F-4 Phantom fighter jets via Greece to Iran, according to a secret probe by the US government’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agency, carried out in cooperation with the drugs and weapons unit of Greece’s Financial Crimes Squad (SDOE).

The story appears in Greek newspaper Kathimerini, which is distributed with the International New York Times.

According to the probe, which Kathimerini said it had access to, the attempted operation was carried out in two phases – one in December 2012 and the second in April 2013. In both cases, officials traced containers packed with the F-4 parts on Greek territory. The cargo had been sent by courier from the Israeli town of Binyamina and had been destined for Iran, which has a large fleet of F-4 aircraft, through a Greek company registered under the name Tassos Karras SA in Votanikos, Athens. “SDOE officials established that the firm was a ghost company, while the company’s contact number was found to belong to a British national residing in Thessaloniki who could not be located,” wrote Kathimerini.

According to the HSI, the cargo appears to have been sent by arms dealers based in Israel, seeking to supply Iran in contravention of an arms embargo, and using Greece as a transit nation.

Last November, the newspaper added, an Athens court ruled against the confiscation of the consignments and ordered that they be delivered to US authorities.

Tags: arms exporting, arms shipments

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED

Greek Paper: Israelis Tried to Sell Arms to Iran

Greek consortium wins tender to build first mosque in capital

ATHENS Mon Nov 18, 2013 11:42am EST

Muslim faithful pray inside a makeshift mosque during Friday prayers during the holy month of Ramadan in Athens July 26, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Yorgos Karahalis

ATHENS (Reuters) – The long-stalled construction of a state-funded mosque in Athens came a step closer on Thursday with the announcement that a consortium of Greek companies had won the tender to build it.

Athens has not had a formal mosque since Greece won independence from occupying Ottomans in 1832 and has been criticized by human rights groups such as Amnesty International for being one of the few European capitals without one.

But a government decision in May to revive the project during the country’s deepest economic crisis had divided a country that spent nearly four centuries under Turkish Ottoman rule, where hostility towards migrants is rising and the Orthodox Church is a powerful institution.

The far-right Golden Dawn party has threatened to block the plan and one local bishop, Seraphim of Piraeus, has taken the issue to the top administrative court, the Council of State.

J&P Avax, Terna, Aktor, Intrakat won the tender to build the mosque that will cost about 946,000 euros ($ 1.27 million) and is expected to take six months to be completed, the Infrastructure Ministry said.

The government launched the tender in May. A previous competition after that failed to attract suitable bidders. Repeated plans for a mosque in Athens have all fallen through, including one planned for the 2004 Olympics.

The mosque’s critics say the near 1 million euro cost is too high a price tag for a country dependent on foreign aid to stay afloat and struggling through six years of recession that has left more than one in four of the workforce jobless.

Greece is home to about 1 million immigrants and groups such as Golden Dawn say undocumented workers have pushed up crime and put a burden on state resources at a time of crisis.

Muslim groups estimate more than 200,000 Muslims from countries including Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh live in Athens alone.

Without a proper place of worship, they have been praying in makeshift mosques set up in old garages or dingy warehouses. Many have been the target of racist attacks and at least one has been set on fire.

The mosque, which will be about 600 square meters, will have no minaret and will be built on a disused naval base in Votanikos, a rundown industrial neighborhood where locals have held a number of protests against the plan, led by the far-right National Front movement. ($ 1 = 0.7430 euros)

(This story corrects to say four centuries, not decades spent under Ottoman rule)

(Reporting by Karolina Tagaris; Editing by Alison Williams)

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Reuters: Lifestyle

Greek consortium wins tender to build first mosque in capital

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Greek PM calls ties with Israel ‘strategic, long term’

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu meets with his Greek counterpart, Antonis Samaras, in Jerusalem. Photo: Amos Ben-Gershom/GPO

Greece views its new and improved relationship with Israel as a strategic, long term partnership that is not dependent on the fate of Israel’s relationship with Turkey, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras told Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.

The comments, according to diplomatic officials, came during a meeting the two leaders had as part of the first Israeli- Greek government-to-government meeting. Samaras arrived in Israel along with eight of his ministers to hold a day of intensive bilateral meetings during which some 10 agreements were signed in a variety of fields from public security to tourism and culture.

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Among the issues Netanyahu raised with Samaras was the EU settlement guidelines set to go into effect on January 1. The guidelines call, among other elements, for Israel to sign a “territorial clause” before entering into any new agreements with the EU that would stipulate that the agreement is inapplicable in east Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and the West Bank. Israel has said it would not sign such a clause and the two sides are currently negotiating over the implementation of the guidelines.

Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos discussed the matter during a meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin. Elkin said that Venizelos supported Israel’s position on this matter, and has made his position clear to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

Elkin said that Greece’s position on this matter had added importance since it will be taking over the EU’s rotating presidency on January 1.

Israeli officials have expressed confidence that a resolution to the issue can be found, citing the support of political leaders in a number of European states.

Among the areas of cooperation Netanyahu and Samaras discussed was the possibility of creating a gas triangle – Israel- Cyprus-Greece – with Greece the hub of Israeli and Cypriot gas exports to the rest of Europe.

Israel’s ambassador to Greece, Aryeh Mekel, said this government-to-government meeting “constitutes the peak in the new and upgraded relations between Israel and Greece that began some three years ago. As opposed to the past, today there is close cooperation in a number of fields.”

Mekel said there has also been a dramatic change in Greek public opinion, which in the past was negative toward Israel, but which today is in favor of close cooperation.

“In the long run this could be the most important element of the improvement in relations,” he said.

The flowering in Greek-Israeli ties began in 2010 and coincided with the sharp deterioration of Israeli-Turkish ties.

Netanyahu, during his meeting with Samaras, praised the Greeks for taking a tough stand against the neo-fascist Golden Dawn Party and arresting six of the party’s MPs following a public furor over the murder of an anti-fascist rapper by a Golden Dawn member.

In a joint appearance with Samaras after their meeting, Netanyahu said he wanted to commend his government for its “resolute opposition to neo- Nazism, anti-Semitism and racism. You have taken important steps, courageous steps that demonstrate clearly that Greece is a land of tolerance and freedom.”

He also commended Samaras for the way he has handled Greece’s economic crisis, and encouraged Israeli businessmen to “go and invest in Greece, it’s probably a very good deal.”

Netanyahu said the “smart money should be going to Greece now, as the smart money should be going to Israel always.”

One area where the two countries do not see eye-to-eye, however, is Iran, although the differences were not aired in public. While Netanyahu repeated his mantra that the pressure must be kept on Tehran, diplomatic officials have said that Greece – whose economy has been hurt by the sanctions it has imposed on oil imports from Iran – is in favor of giving Iranian President Hassan Rouhani a chance to prove himself, and that the West should perhaps ease up on some sanctions as a good will gesture.

During his public comments Netanyahu said that the Iranian regime sought a partial agreement that will ease the sanctions that have significantly hurt the Iranian economy.

“Of course what they want is merely the relaxation of sanctions without the real cessation of Iran’s program to develop military nuclear capability,” he said. “That is unacceptable. The sanctions must be continued, they must be strengthened until the Iranian military nuclear program is dismantled.”

Samaras, in his public comments, tellingly did not mention Iran.

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED

Greek PM calls ties with Israel ‘strategic, long term’

Greek govt cracks down on neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, arrests leader

Published time: September 28, 2013 13:33

Supporters and members of extreme-right Golden Dawn party hold Greek national flags as they sing the national anthem outside the Greek police headquarters in Athens September 28, 2013 (Reuters / John Kolesidis)

Greek police have arrested the leader, several MPs and dozens of members of ultra-right Golden Dawn party on charges of leading a “criminal organization.” The party promised to respond with mass rallies of its supporters.

Greek police issued arrest warrants for Golden Dawn leader Nikos Michaloliakos, party spokesman and MP Ilias Kassidiairis, two other prominent members, at least five other party MPs, as well as number of ordinary party members.

“The Secretary General and one lawmaker of the Golden Dawn Party were arrested a short while ago after arrest warrants were issued,” Greek police informed journalists.

Police have detained about 30 members of the ultra-right party, which won 18 seats in the Greek parliament in the June 2012 elections, having received close to 7 percent of the popular vote.

“Democracy in Greece is strong,” Justice Minister Haralambos Athanassiou said after meeting with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Public Order Minister Nikos Dendias. “All those arrested will have a fair trial,” he said.

In response to the crackdown, the neo-Nazi party called on to its supporters to “resist unlawfulness.”

“We call upon everyone to support our moral and just struggle against the corrupt system,” a statement said on the party’s website.

The ultra-right party faced a public backlash after the Sept. 18 murder of 34-year-old anti-fascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas, who was stabbed to death in Keratsini by George Roupakias, 45, an avowed supporter of Golden Dawn.

In the aftermath of the killing, the government signaled it would take a tough line against the neo-Nazi party.

“This government is determined not to allow the descendants of the Nazis to poison our social life, to commit crimes, terrorize and undermine the foundations of the country that gave birth to democracy,” Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said in a televised address a day after the killing.

The man who allegedly murdered the rapper confessed to the killing when detained by police, and volunteered that he had links to Golden Dawn. The party, however, denied any links to the murderer and the killing.

After the killing, an investigation revealed that sympathetic members of Greek law enforcement agencies had helped to train the Golden Dawn party’s paramilitary wing. As a result nine police officers, including two high-ranking officials, were fired while two senior police officials resigned for “personal reasons.”

The murder of the anti-fascist activist sparked mass protests nationwide as people held street protests to express their anger with the murder, clashing with police on Wednesday night.

The anti-fascist mass rallies apparently prompted the Greek government to launch a crackdown on the members of Golden Dawn, reportedly including wiretapping party members.

But Mihaloliakos and other leaders of Golden Dawn appeared to be defiant ahead of their arrest.

“We will exhaust any means within our legal constitutional rights to defend our political honor,” Mihaloliakos told reporters on Thursday.

On Friday, Golden Dawn threatened to pull its 18 MPs out of parliament in protest against the murder accusations, a move that could potentially prompt by-elections in 15 regions of the country and – if the opposition were to win those elections – it could threaten the small majority of the ruling coalition, which currently controls 155 seats in the 300-seat parliament.

A good result for the opposition could mean that the ruling coalition would become politically untenable, The Guardian reported Mihaloliakos as saying Friday.

“Golden Dawn holds a weapon in its hands to cause a political earthquake. Those in charge should bear that well in mind,” Mihaloliakos said.

Greece’s finance minister downplayed the political risks of arrests of the Golden Dawn party members.

“There is no risk of destabilization,” Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras told reporters on Saturday.

On Saturday, the ultranationalists called on their supporters to rally outside the police headquarters in Athens where their leaders were being held.

“Shame on them, the people will lift Golden Dawn higher,” Golden Dawn MP Ilias Panagiotaros told reporters shortly before his own arrest.

The Golden Dawn party has expressed open hostility toward left-wing opponents and immigrants in Greece, championing slogans such as “clean up the stench,” and “Greece for the Greeks.” They have pledged to eject all immigrants from Greece and secure Greece’s borders with landmines and armed patrols. The party has also opposed austerity measures introduced in exchange for bailout credits from the EU, IMF and European Central Bank – the so-called “Troika”. 

The arrests of Golden Dawn leaders are the largest crackdown against a political party in Greece since the fall of the neo-fascist military junta in 1974.

RT – News

Greek govt cracks down on neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, arrests leader

Greek army, police probed over links to neo-Nazi party

Published time: September 24, 2013 14:47

Supporters of the extreme-right Golden Dawn party hold flares as they chant the national anthem, during a rally over the crisis in Cyprus, outside the German embassy in Athens March 22, 2013. (Reuters / John Kolesidis)

Greece’s army is being accused of helping to train the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party’s paramilitary wing. The revelation comes as top policemen have been fired after the murder of a left-wing activist by a Golden Dawn fan provoked mass protests.

Greek media first started publishing stories detailing the involvement of the country’s elite forces in training its most controversial neo-fascist organization, which is allegedly linked to large-scale racial violence against immigrants in the wake of the country’s economic meltdown.

Greek Defense Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos decided to take action against the rise of fascist activity after last week’s murder of Pavlos Fyssas, a popular anti-fascist rapper, by a Golden Dawn supporter who confessed to the killing immediately after his arrest.

“In Golden Dawn, we have an entire military structure with at least 3,000 people ready for everything,” a party member told the local Sunday Vima newspaper, while another of Greece’s prominent dailies on Monday published photos of military exercises and men in balaclavas at secluded training grounds. The Ethnos newspaper also reported that a few of the men holding knives and wooden clubs were actually trained by members of Greece’s elite special forces – themselves sympathizers with Golden Dawn’s cause.

As part of the ensuing public outrage at these recent developments, the leader of the left-wing Syriza party, Alexis Tsipras, was quoted as saying that the government “thought [Golden Dawn] was a little snake and they patted it… now it’s about to choke us.”

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’s government insists it is doing what it can to curtail Golden Dawn’s extremism, while President Karalos Papoulis told local media that his top priority would be to eradicate neo-fascism in Greece. “From the time I was a young man I fought fascism and Nazism,” Britain’s Guardian newspaper reported Papoulis as saying. “It is my supreme duty as president of the republic to defend democracy and the Greek people from the storm that is approaching.”

Meanwhile, a separate investigation into possible police collusion with Golden Dawn’s activities got under way following the Sept. 18 murder of Fyssas. Five top police officials, along with the chiefs of the two Athens neighborhoods where Fissas was murdered, were fired on Monday, a police statement said.

Four other police officials in the central city of Evia were suspended for failing to take action over armed men showing up frequently at Golden Dawn’s offices, the Interior Ministry said. The suspensions came after the resignation of two senior members of the police force, allegedly for personal reasons.

The stabbing of Fyssas by a supporter of the neo-Nazi party shone a light on suspicions that the country’s law enforcement was turning a blind eye to extremism, with allegations that the Greek police have been infiltrated by members of Golden Dawn.

Golden Dawn has denied any involvement in Fyass’s murder, however.

Greece’s economic crisis has created much social, economic and political unrest, radicalizing large sections of the population. As well as growing left-wing protests, the crisis has also resulted in far-right groups fomenting racial hatred and seeking to blame foreigners and the left for the country’s economic collapse. Golden Dawn’s recent surge in popularity has coincided with its fierce anti-immigrant campaign and its alleged organization of beatings of immigrant street vendors and other non-Greeks. Golden Dawn officials insist they are not involved in racist attacks.

In the aftermath of Fyssas’s murder, and following a clampdown on Golden Dawn’s activities, party spokesman Ilias Kasidaris accused the government and media of waging an unfair war against the organization because it suddenly started to gather so much positive attention. The party’s ratings have sunk by 2.5 percentage points following Fyssas’s murder, however.

“Golden Dawn has been radically strengthened, it has passed 20 percent [in the polls] and in a few months it will lay claim to the biggest municipalities in the land. We will not stop. We have justice on our side and more than a million Greeks,” Kasidaris said.

Despite Kasidaris’s remarks, support for Golden Dawn has begun to wane, followed by increasing calls to ban it. This comes as politicians are accusing Greece’s police of failing to investigate the possibility that the neo-Nazi party had infiltrated its ranks.

Golden Dawn’s leader, Nikos Mihaloliakos, says attempts to ban it would not be successful.

“Golden Dawn is everywhere. It has spread to every city, to every village,” Mihaliliakos said in a live video address on the party’s website. “It’s in every neighborhood and you will not be able to contain it. Deal with it!”

Mihaliliakos also accused Greece’s political establishment of staging a campaign against the party.

Golden Dawn is increasingly called a fascist organization, but the party insists it is not, even though it has a logo resembling a swastika. Giving extra support to the idea of Nazi links, Mihaloliakos has publicly denied the Holocaust. 

At first an obscure, small far-right group, Golden Dawn gained in strength following Greece’s economic collapse in the last five years. Starting out as an organization hardly anyone took seriously, they gained 18 seats in parliament in the June 2012 election, although a Monday poll showed that many Greeks believe it is a threat to democracy. Nearly half the people surveyed describe the party as a “fascist organization,” while just over 30 percent similarly call it a “criminal organization” disguising itself as a political party. In the poll, 17 percent referred to it as a “populist nationalist movement.”

RT – News

Greek army, police probed over links to neo-Nazi party

Greek economy shrinks 4.6 percent in second quarter

ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece’s economy shrank at annual pace of 4.6 percent in the second quarter, contributing to a slump of more than 20 percent in real terms since 2008.

Reuters: Top News

Greek economy shrinks 4.6 percent in second quarter

EU/IMF says outlook for Greek bailout program uncertain

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A Greek flag flutters on the top of the parliament as the moon rises in Athens May 23, 2013..


Credit: Reuters/John Kolesidis








BRUSSELS | Mon Jul 8, 2013 4:26am EDT





BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The outlook for Greece’s bailout program remains uncertain, with differences still to be worked out between the Greek government and its creditors, the European Union and International Monetary Fun said on Monday.




“While important progress continues to be made, policy implementation is behind in some areas,” the so-called “troika” of creditors said in an update on Greece’s bailout program, which will be discussed later by euro zone finance ministers.




“The authorities have committed to take corrective actions to ensure delivery of the fiscal targets for 2013-14 and achieve primary balance this year,” it said, but added:




“The mission and the authorities agreed that the macroeconomic outlook remains broadly in line with program projections, with prospects for a gradual return to growth in 2014. The outlook remains uncertain, however.”




(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Luke Baker)





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Reuters: Business News

EU/IMF says outlook for Greek bailout program uncertain

Greek party quits coalition over state TV debacle

ATHENS (Reuters) – The smallest party in Greece’s ruling coalition pulled out of the government on Friday after a row over the abrupt closure of the state broadcaster, leaving Prime Minister Antonis Samaras with a tiny majority in parliament.

Reuters: Top News

Greek party quits coalition over state TV debacle

Greek court orders state TV reopened, PM offers compromise

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Protesters cast their shadows on a state broadcaster ERT van outside its headquarters in Athens June 16, 2013.


Credit: Reuters/Yorgos Karahalis








ATHENS | Mon Jun 17, 2013 2:02pm EDT





ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece’s prime minister has offered to quickly restart state broadcaster ERT under temporary management, a government official said on Monday, in a bid to defuse a political crisis and avoid snaps elections.




Samaras made the offer during talks with coalition allies in an effort to bridge a rift over the broadcaster’s abrupt closure that plunged Greece into fresh political turmoil, the official said.




However, he insists that ERT be restructured and restart as a new, slimmed-down broadcaster, the official said.




The official said Samaras also offered to reshuffle his cabinet at the end of June and update the coalition agreement with his allies, the Socialist PASOK and Democratic Left, in a bid to improve cooperation between the three parties.




(Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas, editing by Deepa Babington)





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Reuters: Top News

Greek court orders state TV reopened, PM offers compromise

Greek PM offers to reopen state broadcaster: government source

ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece’s prime minister has offered to quickly restart state broadcaster ERT under temporary management, a government official said on Monday, in a bid to defuse a political crisis and avoid snaps elections.

Reuters: Top News

Greek PM offers to reopen state broadcaster: government source

Greek PM offers to reopen state broadcaster: government source

ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece’s prime minister has offered to quickly restart state broadcaster ERT under temporary management, a government official said on Monday, in a bid to defuse a political crisis and avoid snaps elections.

Reuters: Top News

Greek PM offers to reopen state broadcaster: government source

Images Of Taksim Square Tear Gas Usher In 2010 Greek PTSD Flashback For Market

Moments ago CNBC cued to the its gas-mask clad coverage from a violent Taksim Square, where a crowd of 50,000 was just getting the tear gas treatment from the local police. And sure enough, going back to the question we posed first thing this morning whether with “a big demonstration is due in a few hours: will Taksim Square June 2013 be the “Waddel and Reed/May 2010″ Syntagma Square flash crash equivalent?”, we got the answer courtesy of the USDJPY which just tumbled over 80 pips in the span of minutes and dragged down not only the S&P but the Nikkei with it. We hope the NSA has a read on just where Waddell and Reed is located exactly this moment or else things may get very Syntagmaish Squarish circa May 2010 in a hurry…

 

Zero Hedge

Images Of Taksim Square Tear Gas Usher In 2010 Greek PTSD Flashback For Market