RIYADH, 21 April 2005 — Greek Ambassador I. Economou extended warm greetings and best wishes to Arab News on the occasion of its 30th anniversary.
Describing Saudi-Greek political relations as excellent, Ambassador Economou said the reason was partly historical, since Greek works of art, literature and philosophy were preserved by ancient Arabs, who also studied Greek philosophy. This period coincided with a period of European history when Greece was an anathema to the rest of Europe. This explains the Greek empathy for the Arab cause, the ambassador explained.
The ambassador, while appreciating Arab News’ international coverage, suggested that the newspaper could also carry reports on the Greek Cypriot perspective of the reunification of Cyprus.
He was commenting on reports that seemed to suggest that while the Turkish Cypriots gave a resounding “yes” in the referendum on the reunification of the island, the Greek Cypriots have not warmed up that enthusiastically to the idea. The reason is that the prosperous southern part of the divided island will have to bear much of the burden of the cost of reunification.
Arab News’ Raid Qusti said the newspaper would welcome dispatches from a journalist there in line with its policy of providing balanced and comprehensive international news coverage.
