Rocket attack on US embassy in Athens

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Pastor Dale Morgan

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Jan 12, 2007, 8:22:00 PM1/12/07
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*Perilous Times*

Saturday January 13, 2:03 AM
*
Rocket attack on US embassy in Athens*

A rocket hit the US embassy in Athens, in an attack claimed by a
left-wing group that raised fears of a resurgence of extremist violence
in Greece.

The rocket damaged the building, but there were no casualties.

Public Order Minister Vyron Polydoras said the authorities were
investigating the credibility of call from the Revolutionary Struggle
organisation assuming responsibility.

The radical left wing outfit has staged other operations in recent years
which have made it the most feared extremist group in Greece.

A police source said investigators found the remains of a Russian-made
anti-tank rocket at the embassy, which is on one of Athens' busiest
highways.

"I'm treating (this) as a very serious attack," US ambassador Charles
Ries told reporters outside the modern glass-fronted building.

"We did not expect anything, but the embassy is always guarded
carefully," said Ries, who added that he was "confident that the effort
to damage the strong relations between the United States and Greece will
not succeed."

Both the embassy and the US consulate in the northern city of Salonika
were closed for security reasons.

US institutions, banks and companies have been frequently targeted by
militant groups in Greece in recent decades. A CIA station chief was
assassinated in Athens in 1975.

Polydoras said Friday's strike constituted "an attempt to revive
terrorist (activity)" but he predicted it would fail.

"It is probably domestic activity ... as is seen from the apparent
assumption of responsibility by Revolutionary Struggle," he said.

Police said the rocket penetrated the building near the front-entrance
emblem and exploded inside, damaging a toilet on the third floor, which
also houses the ambassador's office.

The missile was fired at 5:58 am (0358 GMT) and caused minor damage to
the front windows and the roof.

"All evidence points to the rocket having been fired from an adjacent
worksite lot, where a building was recently demolished," a senior police
officer told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Several windows were smashed around the eagle emblem on the facade and
there were burn marks on the adjacent wall.

US embassy officials waited at least 15 minutes after the blast before
allowing Greek police access to the courtyard, and over an hour before
letting them into the building proper, a police source said.

Revolutionary Struggle is believed to have carried out six attacks in
recent years, including a May 30 explosion near the home of Polydoras'
predecessor as public order minister, George Voulgarakis.

Previous attacks included one on a police station 100 days before the
2004 Athens Olympics and another in December 2005 against the economy
ministry in central Athens.

Friday's incident is one of the most serious since the 2002 break-up of
the November 17 group which carried out several attacks against foreign
diplomats and military personnel, including the assassination of the CIA
station chief.

At the behest of Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, the officer who
headed Greece's anti-terrorism squad at the time of November 17's
break-up, Stelios Syrros, has been appointed to lead the investigation
into the rocket attack on the embassy.

A decade ago, November 17 also fired a rocket at the US embassy
courtyard and another rocket at the German ambassador's residence.

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