Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper, published in London, revealed information that the Greek government decided to fire the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church in Jerusalem Irenious the first from his post over the latest revealed sales deals of the Patriarchate property in the old city to Jewish investors.
The newspaper said the government’s decision was made after consultation with the Palestinian Authority, Israel and Jordan.
The newspaper added that the Greek deputy foreign minister, Panagiotis Skandalakis, to meet wit Palestinian and Israeli officials before going to Jordan to meet with officials there.
Skandalakis will inform the three governments of the Greek government decision demanding the Patriarch to resign.
A Greek official spoke on condition of anonymity that the Patriarch negatively affected the Greek’s interests and relations with the Arab and Moslem countries.
The Patriarch has published announcements in the local newspapers in Palestine in four languages, Arabic, English, Greek and Hebrew, in which he canceled all powers of attorney given to anybody prior the date of publishing the announcement including powers of attorney of any kind given to Nikolas Papadimus, who is on the run.
The newspaper said Greece was under pressure by some Arab states to have the Patriarch declare his resignation prior the Greek Easter on May 1.
Some reports said that the Patriarch refused to cooperate with the investigation committee. The committee reported that the Patriarch is involved in the sales deal and in giving powers of attorney to unqualified employees. He refused to provide documents to the committee and did not allow them to photocopy some other documents.
