Greek cargo ships to take on materiel destined for Iraq

ATHENS - Greek freighters will transport materiel destined for Iraq, foreign ministry spokesman George Koumoutsakos said here Wednesday, although Athens opposed the US-led invasion of the country.
"Greek commercial ships will assist in transporting materiel toward Iraq, and not to Iraq, within the framework of NATO," he said.
This aid will not be shipped from the northern port of Salonika, a transit point for allied materiel to the Balkans, and will "not necessarily involve (Greece's) Aegean Sea," he added without being more specific.
Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis visited the United States last week and met with US President George W. Bush.
Greece did not send any troops to Iraq, but has contributed 300,000 euros (376,800 dollars) to a fund aimed at training Iraqi security forces.
Athens is also pressing a two-year-old proposal to set up a training center at a NATO base in Souda, northwest Crete.

05/25/2005 13:27 GMT