Athens - The European Commission Tuesday approved the sale of Greece's national carrier Olympic Airlines to the Marfin Investment Group after years of failed privatisation attempts.

The deal involving Marfin, a Greek-based investment holdings company, comes a month after the conservative government made a last- minute appeal for investors to rescue Olympic, after an international tender failed to produce satisfactory offers.

Bids by two other companies for the ailing airline, Aegean Airlines and US-based Chrysler Aviation, were rejected.

Athens - The Greek coast guard officials Monday detained 31 illegal immigrants who had crossed the Aegean Sea in inflatable rafts from neighbouring Turkey.

The immigrants, among them two women, were picked up alive by the Greek coast guard after they were found swimming near the small island of Innousses, along the Greek-Turkish border.

The immigrants told officials they decided to destroy their raft and jump into the water once they were detected by coast guard officials.

They were taken to a hospital on Chios.

Athens  - A bomb exploded outside a Citibank branch in Athens on Monday, causing damage but no injuries, Greek news reports said.

Reports said the bomb went off behind the building in the Athens suburb of Filothei.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but police believe far-left militant groups to be behind the bombing.

It would the second time that militant leftists targeted Citibank.

Last month, police managed to defuse a car bomb that contained hundreds of kilograms of explosives.

Athens  - After years of failed privatization attempts, the Greek government sealed a deal Friday with the country's largest buyout firm, Marfin Investment Group, for the sale of debt-ridden carrier Olympic Airlines, said Development Minister Kostis Hatzidakis.

The deal involving Marfin (MIG) comes a month after the conservative government made a last-minute appeal for investors to rescue Olympic, after an international tender failed to produce satisfactory offers.

Athens  - After years of failed privatization attempts, the Greek government sealed a deal Friday with the country's largest buyout firm, Marfin Investment Group, for the sale of debt-ridden carrier Olympic Airlines, media reports said.

The deal involving Marfin and Swissport, a subsidiary of Spain's Ferrovial, comes a month after the conservative government made a last-minute appeal for investors to rescue Olympic, after an international tender failed to produce satisfactory offers.

Athens/Nicosia - Greek Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias said Friday that the key to finding a solution to reunify the divided Mediterranean island lies with Turkey.

Rival Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders launched new round of UN- led direct negotiations in September 2008 following a four-year stalemate.

"Our aim is to solve the Cyprus problem, but we have said many times that the key for a solution is Turkey," Christofias told reporters, adding Turkey "must move from its intolerant position."