Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos pledged on Thursday to speed up an investigation into the crash near Athens of a Cypriot airliner which killed 121 people on board on Sunday.

"We decided to take additional steps to speed up both the identification of victims and the full clarification of the circumstances of the accident," Papadopoulos said after meeting with the Greek prime minister.

Papadopoulos arrived in Athens Wednesday evening on a scheduled 24-hour visit, aimed at comparing notes about Turkey's European Union entry talks which are expected to start on Oct. 3.

However, the worst ever tragedy both in Greece and in Cyprus overshadowed the Cypriot president's meetings in Athens.

He stressed that if needed, "we will not hesitate in calling in experts from abroad so as to establish the level of the security procedures and measures."

He vowed to uncover the truth of the tragedy and bring those responsible to justice.

"We will observe the course of the investigations and we will contribute in finding the cause of this air tragedy. We hope that in the end the whole truth of the facts will be revealed," he said.

Karamanlis reiterated Athens' determination to pinpoint the cause of the accident.

"An investigation is moving quickly. Both governments will continue to work closely together, this is the least we can do as part of our obligation toward the victims and their families," Karamanlis told reporters.

The desperate search for the remaining three bodies at the crash site proved fruitless, while experts and local media called on the Greek government to make public the preliminary evidence.

Source: Xinhua