Greece « Signal, No Noise

January 14, 2010

Greece: “Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire” claims Parliament bomb

Filed under: Europe,Greece,Southern Europe,Terrorism — mungurk @ 16:08

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Terror group alliance claims Parliament bomb
Wednesday January 13, 2010

SIMELA PANTZARTZI/ANA

Policemen patrol the area in front of Parliament where a bomb exploded on Saturday night. In a proclamation posted on the Internet yesterday the Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire and the little-known Terrorist Guerrilla Group claimed responsibility for the bloodless attack. The same groups had claimed a blast at an insurance firm on December 27. The proclamation, titled ‘Democracy will not win,’ calls on police to release three suspected members of the group.

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January 7, 2010

Greece Arrests 26 – Year – Old Man Over Bomb Attacks

Filed under: Europe,Greece,Southern Europe,Terrorism — mungurk @ 08:05

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January 5, 2010

By REUTERS

Filed at 12:56 p.m. ET

ATHENS (Reuters) – Greek police arrested a man on Tuesday on suspicion of being a member of a leftist guerrilla group which has claimed a series of bomb attacks over the past year.

Police said they had been searching for Nikos Bakopoulos, 26, since he and other suspects were charged by a prosecutor for being members of the Fire Conspiracy Cells group following a police raid in September on a flat in which a bomb was found.

Under Greek anti-terrorism law, he faces life imprisonment if convicted.

“The police arrested him in the centre of Athens,” a police official, who declined to be named, said.

“The warrant was issued after his fingerprints were found in a flat in (the northern Athens suburb of) Halandri where a bomb and material to make bombs were found.”

Greece has suffered a string of anarchist and leftist attacks aimed at businesses, police and public buildings since the police shooting of a teenager in December 2008 triggered the country’s worst riots in decades, fuelled by economic hardships.

Fire Conspiracy Cells claimed responsibility for a powerful blast which wrecked the ground floor of the National Insurance building and smashed the windshields of five cars parked nearby at the end of December.

The group previously was known for small explosions with gas canisters and homemade bombs against government buildings and politicians’ homes and offices.

(Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Michael Roddy)

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December 10, 2009

Ransom paid for Greek ship

Filed under: Africa,Eastern Africa,Europe,Greece,Piracy,Somalia,Southern Europe,Terrorism — mungurk @ 13:28

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December 10 2009 at 10:06AM

Mogadishu – Somali pirates holding a Greek-owned vessel since May said a $2,5-million (about R15-million) ransom was finally paid on Thursday and the MV Ariana and its crew of 24 Ukrainians would be freed shortly.

“The deal is now complete, the ransom money was delivered to us early this morning and the ship will be released within minutes,” Mohamed Ilkaase, a member of the pirate gang holding the MV Ariana, told AFP by phone from the coastal town of Hobyo.

The Maltese-flagged vessel was seized on May 2 en route from the Middle East to Brazil with 10 000 tons of soya beans and was one of the longest-running hostage situations off the coast of Somalia.

“This ship had been in our hands for some time now and there had been disagreements over the ransom in recent weeks,” Ilkaase said. “But finally, we agreed to a ransom of $2,5-million to free the ship.”

Abdi Yare, a pirate leader based in the neighbouring pirate lair of Harardhere, confirmed information that the MV Ariana’s release was imminent.

“That ship will be released this morning, the ransom money was paid this morning at 6.00am (03.00 GMT),” he said.

Another pirate had announced on November 26 that the ship was being released for $3,7-million but last-minute snags emerged over the ransom and the pirates held on to the vessel and its crew.

The ship is owned by the Athens-based All Ocean Shipping company, which is in turn owned by a British conglomerate. Neither immediately confirmed the release of the MV Ariana.

Somali pirates are also currently holding a Greek-flagged vessel, the 330-metre crude carrier Marav Centaurus, which was hijacked on November 29 with a crew of 16 Filipinos, nine Greeks, two Ukrainians and a Romanian. – Sapa-AFP

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November 16, 2009

Filed under: Europe,Greece,Southern Europe,Terrorism — mungurk @ 10:44

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Friday, November 13, 2009

ATHENS, Greece — A small bomb exploded Friday outside a building where a governing party lawmaker lives in Athens, causing minor damage but no injuries, police said.

A police statement said the device exploded around 2 p.m. at the entrance to Mimis Androulakis’ apartment building in the eastern Kareas suburb. It was unclear whether the lawmaker was in his second-floor flat at the time.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which involved a bomb with a timer and followed a warning call to police.

Greece’s new Socialist government has pledged to crack down on far-left and anarchist militants who oppose government economic and social policies and have stepped up bombing and shooting attacks on police and politicians over the past year.

The spike in violence followed the fatal police shooting of a teenager in Athens last December, which sparked widespread rioting in many Greek cities.

Last month, a small bomb placed in a saucepan damaged the entrance to the apartment building where a prominent opposition conservative lawmaker lives. A small far-left group called Conspiracy Nuclei of Fire claimed responsibility for the attack, which caused no casualties.

On Oct. 27, six police officers were wounded when gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire with automatic weapons on a suburban precinct in Athens.

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October 29, 2009

Gunmen wound seven in Athens attack: Greek police

Filed under: Europe,Greece,Terrorism — mungurk @ 16:41

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Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:12pm EDT

By Angeliki Koutantou

ATHENS (Reuters) – Two gunmen on a motorcycle launched an attack outside a police station in Athens on Tuesday, wounding six Greek police officers and a passer-by, police said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but Greece’s new Socialist government, which swept to power earlier this month, vowed to track down and arrest the gunmen.

Leftist and anarchist groups have mounted a series of attacks against police, businesses, public institutions and politicians since a policeman shot dead a teenager in Athens in December, sparking Greece’s worst riots in decades.

“Two unknown assailants riding a motorcycle shot and injured police officers outside the police station,” said a police official, who declined to be named.

One policeman, who was guarding the police station at the time of the attack, was in a serious condition, said the official.

“Our response will be immediate and resolute,” Civil Protection Minister Mihalis Chrysohoidis, who has made combating guerrilla groups a top priority, told reporters after visiting some of the wounded at an Athens hospital.

“Coward murderers will be arrested and brought before justice,” he said.

The far-left Rebel Sect urban guerrilla group claimed responsibility for the killing of an anti-terrorism policeman in June, the worst attack since the December riots.

A little-known group, The Council for the Deconstruction of Order, said on Tuesday it was responsible for makeshift bomb attacks outside the party offices of a minister and a deputy minister last week in the northern city of Thessaloniki.

(Additional reporting by Renee Maltezou; Editing by Ingrid Melander and Jon Hemming)

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