Greek police intercepted a
booby-trapped parcel addressed to French President Nicolas Sarkozy and three
others meant for foreign embassies in Athens.
The France-bound device was found
in the hands of two far-left Greek militants after another parcel detonated at
a courier company in the capital.
“The incident seems rather
ridiculous and in Sarkozy’s case it’s quite evident that this parcel would
never have reached its destination,” said police spokesman Thanassis Kokalakis.
Police found several other
explosive packages addressed to the embassies of Belgium, the Netherlands and
Mexico in Athens.
A female employee at the courier
company was left with slight burns to her hand when the parcel intended for the
Mexican embassy caught light.
Police have arrested four people
including two men, aged 22 and 24, who were found with the booby-trapped
parcels destined for France.
The men were both carrying handguns
and one was wearing a wig and baseball cap and a bulletproof vest, police said.
Of the four arrested, one man is a
suspected member of obscure group Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei, that specialises
in arson attacks on offices and homes of politicians.
It is relatively common for
far-left extremists in Greece to address letter bombs to government targets,
but they are often designed to avoid causing injury.
However, in June a similar device
fatally injured the then police minister’s security chief after being smuggled
into the heavily-guarded ministry building.
Police have not linked any known
group to that attack.
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