Rome: A package bomb was found at the
Greek Embassy in Rome on Monday, three days after mail bombs
exploded at two other embassies injuring two people.
Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman Gregoris Delavekouras
said from Athens that no one was harmed in the latest
incident, in part because heightened security measures had
already been put in place.
"The embassy was evacuated and the staff assembled
some distance away from the building, so that everyone could
be accounted for," he said to a news agency.
"There were already heightened security measures at
the Greek and other embassies, so the procedure that had to be
followed was clear. The matter is now in the hands of the
Italian police."
Mail bombs exploded Friday at the Chilean and Swiss
embassies, injuring two people who opened them. An anarchist
group with reported ties to Greek anarchists claimed
responsibility.
Police, carabinieri and firefighters massed around the
building today while the Greek Embassy staff lingered outside.
The street, in the residential Parioli neighborhood, remained
open to traffic.
Reports of suspicious packages at the embassies of
Venezuela, Monaco and Denmark were false alarms, police and
news reports said.
There have been several other reports of suspicious
packages in recent days that turned out to be false alarms.
Police told all embassies in the capital to be on
alert after the package bombs on Friday; Monday was the first
day of business after the Christmas holiday. Sweden`s Foreign
Ministry said no packages have so far been found at that
country`s embassy in Rome, but that it was closed Monday "for
security measures."
An Italian group calling itself the Informal Anarchist
Federation claimed responsibility for Friday`s blasts. News
reports said that a claim found at one of the embassies cited
the name of Lambros Fountas, a Greek anarchist who was killed
in a shootout with police in March.
Interior Minister Roberto Maroni has said that
investigators believe the anarchists who were responsible
might have ties to Greek anarchists responsible for last
month`s letter bombings at Athens embassies.
PTI
