Global General

Greece suspends air freight after bombs found

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-11-03 20:42

ATHENS - Greece suspended overseas shipment of mail and packages for 48 hours on Wednesday, hoping to stop militants sending more parcel bombs in addition to more than a dozen already sent to governments and embassies.

Small bombs exploded at the Swiss and Russian embassies in Athens on Tuesday, a parcel with explosives was intercepted at the German chancellor's office and another package addressed to Italy's prime minister caught fire when it was checked.

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The bombs may be intended to spur an anti-government vote in Sunday's local elections in protest against Prime Minister George Papandreou's austerity plan, agreed with the EU and International Monetary Fund to deal with Greece's debt mountain.

"Such brainless and irresponsible actions aim to damage the Greek people's great effort to put the country and its economy back on its feet ... they will fail, we will not bend," said Papandreou, who has vowed to be "merciless" with militants.

Papandreou, in office for only 13 months, has threatened to call a parliamentary election if voters do not back him.

There have been a total of 14 actual or suspected bombs since Monday but only one casualty, a courier employee who was slightly injured when a bomb exploded in her hands.

"If there are more parcel bombs they must be abroad by now, not in Greece. Courier services have made checks and have not found anything suspect for domestic delivery," a police official said on Wednesday.

Police said members of the public had come forward with information about two men who have been arrested, while investigators searched their homes.

Police arrested the two Greeks, aged 22 and 24, in possession of two bombs, one addressed to French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

One of the two arrested men is suspected of being a member of the Fire Conspiracy Cells, who have staged several attacks on government targets over the past year, police said.

Two suspect packages detonated by police at the cargo terminal of Athens airport on Tuesday contained explosives and were addressed to European police organization Europol and the European Court of Justice, police officials said.