The Premier is married to Daphne Arcadiou and has two daughters. The party first came to power in 1981 and stayed in office untill 1989. In January 1996, Andreas Papandreou resigned after a long illness, and Mr. Simitis was elected prime minister by the party's deputies. The Defense Minister stated that the incident, where reportedly unknown commandos landed on the islet, attacked the islet's lighthouse keeper and, after spraying him with a substance that rendered him unconscious, tore the greek flag apart, is not considered to be a hostile military act. Meanwhile, the investigation that was carried out this morning revealed that although the flag was found on the ground with its cord cut, it had not been torn.
More light is hoped to be shed in the matter through further investigations.
According to the broadcast, the victim, who was at the lighthouse with two of his friends, heard suspicious noise emanating from a nearby location and headed towards that direction. According to the lighthouse keeper, he was confronted by commandos who sprayed a substance in his face which rendered him unconscious. The lighthouse keeper's friends, upon realizing that the man was not returning, went looking fom him and found him laying unconscious on a rock. After being revived through cardiopulmonary resuscitation, he told them that unknown commandos attacked him and tore the greek flag prior to leaving the islet. So far, the general indicator remained stable at the Athens Stock Exchange, although a slight decrease of .16 per cent was noted, a factor attributed to the uncertainty noted from small investors.