General sworn in as Greek President

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33391, 26 November 1973, Page 15

General sworn in as Greek President

(N .Z.P. A.-Reuter—Copyright) ATHENS. November 25. General Phaedon Gizikis, the commander of the First Army, based in Larissa, was today sworn in as President of Greece. There was no word on the fate of the former President. Mr George Papadopoulos, the former colonel who engineered the 1967 Army coup d’etat.

The fall of Mr Papadopoulos from power was announced on the nation’s radio and television networks an hour after General Gizikis was sworn in as the President. Communications with the outside world were temporarily disrupted.

A curfew was immediately imposed in the Greek capital and in Salonika. The radio called on all Armed Forces officers to report to their units immediately. No names were mentioned in the initial proclamation, which said Greece again faced dangers similar to those averted by the Army take-over in 1967. “After two referendums the country is still without a

constitution,” it said. “Conditions do not exist for elections at present, and the Armed Forces are taking ac-

tion to save the country,, which is rapidly going into, chaos.” REFERENCES TO 1967 The radio repeatedly' re- j ferred to 1967, and said the] regime was facing new threats leading to “confusion and chaos.” General Vassilios Tsoumbas yesterday became Minister of Public Order — the first military man to join the all-civilian Government of the Prime Minister (Mr Spyros Markezinis). He replaced Mr Panayotis Therapos, who, according to a Government spokesman, resigned for personal reasons. General Tsoumbas was i Minister of Public Order until early October in the mili-j tary Government of President George Papadopoulos. It was then that Mr Markezinis formed a Government to pave the way for Parliamentary elections next year. The Government has accused politicians of virtually instigating the riots, which brought demonstrators into confrontation with troops and tanks. HOUSE ARREST

Three politicians, Mr Panayotis Kanellopoulos and Mr George Mavros, leaders of the National Radical Union and Centre Union parties, and Mr lonnis Zigdis, a former Liberal Minister, have been placed under house arrest. The Under-Secretary of Press and Information, Mr Spyros Zournatzis, yesterday said military authorities would decide whether charges should be brought against politicans in connection with the recent unrest. He also said 302 people were being detained for screening by the security police and the military judiciary.