Greek Prime Minister postpones US trip over debt crisis

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has postponed a planned visit to New York so he can focus on securing the next tranche of bailout funds, his office said Saturday. Papandreou had taken the decision as "next week is particularly crucial", his office said. The premier had been due to head to New York on Saturday to attend the United Nations General Assembly and meet Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund.
"The prime minister had decided to postpone his planned visit to the United States because next week is particularly crucial for addressing the decisions taken on July 21 in the eurozone and for the initiatives that Greece must take," the statement said. At a July summit in Brussels, the eurozone decided in principle on a second bailout for Greece of around 159 billion euros ($219 billion) but the details have not been worked out.