A parcel bomb burst into flames at the Swiss embassy in Athens yesterday and controlled explosions were carried out on packages at the Russian and Bulgarian embassies and outside parliament, Greek police said, a day after intercepting several similar packages.
Police said a total of five parcel bombs had been discovered in the capital yesterday, just days before local elections, following similar packages addressed to three other embassies and French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday.
No one was injured, although an employee at the Swiss embassy had a narrow escape when a suspect parcel ignited, a police source said.
PHOTO: EPA
Switzerland’s foreign ministry said the device had been left at the entrance to the embassy and burst into flames when it was being checked by staff.
“The burst of flame occurred when employees were removing the external wrapping of the package. At no moment was there an explosion,” the ministry said.
In Sofia, Bulgaria’s foreign ministry said the package discovered at its embassy had raised suspicions when it set off a metal detector.
“The actual sender of the package is yet unknown,” the ministry said.
Swiss embassy staff had also detected metal in the package sent there, Geneva said.
The parcel found outside the Greek parliament was addressed to the Chilean embassy, while one found at a courier company was addressed to the German embassy.
The parcel-bombing campaign comes ahead of local elections on Sunday and during a period of social malaise after deep austerity measures adopted by the Socialist government to battle an unprecedented debt crisis.
Greek government spokesman George Petalotis condemned “those who try in vain to terrorize and disturb the public tranquility.”
Police arrested two men suspected of links to a far-left group on Monday after the discovery of several booby-trapped packages, including one addressed to the French president.
The alert was raised on Monday when a package mailed to the Mexican embassy detonated inside a courier company office, burning the hand of a female employee.
Police then announced they had intercepted other packages addressed to the Dutch and Belgian embassies, as well as the one to Sarkozy.
The two men arrested on Monday, aged 22 and 24, were armed with Glock handguns. One of them was also wearing a bulletproof jacket and a wig.
The 22-year-old had been wanted by police as a suspected member of Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei, a far-left group that appeared in 2008 and has authored a wave of arson and minor bomb attacks against the offices and homes of politicians.
Attacks on government and police targets are commonplace in Greece and are usually attributed to left-wing extremists. However, they are usually designed to avoid causing injury.
“The prime suspects would have to be the anarchists or far left as usual,” said David Lea, a Control Risks Western Europe analyst.
“If this is it, the story will fade but if there’s another flurry tomorrow it’s a different matter,” he said.
An endangered baby pygmy hippopotamus that shot to social media stardom in Thailand has become a lucrative source of income for her home zoo, quadrupling its ticket sales, the institution said Thursday. Moo Deng, whose name in Thai means “bouncy pork,” has drawn tens of thousands of visitors to Khao Kheow Open Zoo this month. The two-month-old pygmy hippo went viral on TikTok and Instagram for her cheeky antics, inspiring merchandise, memes and even craft tutorials on how to make crocheted or cake-based Moo Dengs at home. A zoo spokesperson said that ticket sales from the start of September to Wednesday reached almost
‘BARBAROUS ACTS’: The captain of the fishing vessel said that people in checkered clothes beat them with iron bars and that he fell unconscious for about an hour Ten Vietnamese fishers were violently robbed in the South China Sea, state media reported yesterday, with an official saying the attackers came from Chinese-flagged vessels. The men were reportedly beaten with iron bars and robbed of thousands of dollars of fish and equipment on Sunday off the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), which Taiwan claims, as do Vietnam, China, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines. Vietnamese media did not identify the nationalities of the attackers, but Phung Ba Vuong, an official in central Quang Ngai province, told reporters: “They were Chinese, [the boats had] Chinese flags.” Four of the 10-man Vietnamese crew were rushed
CHINESE ICBM: The missile landed near the EEZ of French Polynesia, much to the surprise and concern of the president, who sent a letter of protest to Beijing Fijian President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere called for “respect for our region” and a stop to missile tests in the Pacific Ocean, after China launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). In a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, Katonivere recalled the Pacific Ocean’s history as a nuclear weapons testing ground, and noted Wednesday’s rare launch by China of an ICBM. “There was a unilateral test firing of a ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean. We urge respect for our region and call for cessation of such action,” he said. The ICBM, carrying a dummy warhead, was launched by the
As violence between Israel and Hezbollah escalates, Iran is walking a tightrope by supporting Hezbollah without being dragged into a full-blown conflict and playing into its enemy’s hands. With a focus on easing its isolation and reviving its battered economy, Iran is aware that war could complicate efforts to secure relief from crippling sanctions. Cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah, sparked by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7 last year, has intensified, especially after last week’s sabotage on Hezbollah’s communications that killed 39 people. Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon followed, killing hundreds. Hezbollah retaliated with rocket barrages. Despite the surge in
RSS