PM: Corruption a 'common enemy'

   Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis on Thursday addressed the 13th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) organised by Transparency International (TI) in Athens, as the closely watched event this year focuses on worldwide efforts to combat corruption amid the spectre of a global credit crisis.

    "International corruption constitutes a common enemy that we are obliged to combat with a persistent effort, both on a national and international level," Karamanlis told delegates at the international conference.

    The premier said the deeper problems of the real economy are now at the forefront, while cautioning that the world is faced with a recession of unknown intensity and duration.

    "We are all responsible for the grim reality the world is faced with today ... and we need to deal with the real causes (of the recession)," he stressed.

    "Behind the explosion in prices and the credit crisis lies inadequate transparency," he said, adding that the conference's thematic sessions on natural resources, energy and climate change must generate answers, "as climate change comprises a nightmare threat for the planet's future".

    In terms of Greece, Karamanlis said the country has passed from the stage of idleness to a gradual improvement in the international anti-corruption index.

    The 13th IACC kicked off in Athens on Thursday with delegates from 135 countries taking part and speakers that included Greek Justice Minister Sotiris Hatzigakis, Parliament President Dimitris Sioufas and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, among others.

    Hatzigakis noted that corruption was a phenomenon that eroded political life and contaminated society, while its persecution was a political act but one that needed to be carried out with due care and caution.

    IACC Council chair Barry O' Keefe noted that the conference was an attempt to have a "positive impact on the future of the planet" and stressed the part played by corruption in the current credit crisis, while the president of TI Greece Costas Bakouris stressed the need for Greece to remain alert for high levels of corruption and find solutions for its eradication.

    The chairwoman of Transparency International Huguette Labelle, meanwhile, said that corruption affected all aspects of life and resulted in the loss of vast sums on a global scale each year that could be used to improve people's lives.

    The 13th IACC will consist of 40 working groups, beginning on Thursday and ending on November 2. The conference will focus mainly on the causes and consequences of corruption on peace and security, natural resources and energy markets, climate change, and sustainable globalisation.

    Caption: ANA-MPA file photograph of Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.