MORATORIUM. SOCIALIST INTERNATIONAL BACKS ITALIAN INITIATIVE

main opposition Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) leader George Papandreou had a telephone conversation with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi to whom he conveyed his party's and the Socialist International's (SI) "full support" to his initiative at the United Nations for a global ban on the death penalty. The PASOK leader is also SI president.
According to statements by party spokesman Petros Efthymiou, who made the announcement, Papandreou will address a letter to the leaders of all SI member parties proposing the undertaking of concrete actions towards this direction.
Papandreou and Prodi will also jointly organise an international conference with the participation of international personalities, while he will contact UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on the issue, Efthymiou added.