A bomb hidden on a parked motorcycle exploded outside two court buildings in central Athens on Thursday, damaging cars and shattering windows but leaving no one hurt, officials said.
A bomb hidden on a parked motorcycle was detonated Thursday in front of an Athens court building. The blast destroyed cars, and caused significant flames and smoke.
No injuries were reported.
At least a dozen suspected members of the anarchist group known as the Conspiracy Nuclei of Fire are due to go on trial in mid-January 2011. The Conspiracy Nuclei of Fire is allegedly responsible for a series of package bombs that were sent to embassies in Greece recently.
On November 1, a package addressed to the Mexican Embassy in Athens exploded in the office of a courier company, scorching the hands of the employee who handled it. A second package, containing a similar bomb (a small quantity of gunpowder from fireworks) addressed to offices of Eurojust in the Netherlands, was destroyed in a controlled explosion. Two suspects were arrested after a police cordon of the affected area was established; both suspects were wearing wigs and were armed with Glock 9-mm handguns, one had a bulletproof vest and both were in possession of two other explosive packages addressed to French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the Belgian Embassy.
The following day bombs exploded outside of the Swiss and Russian Embassies while suspicious packages that were addressed to Europol and the Bulgarian, Chilean and German Embassies were recovered and disrupted. One package, destined for Italian president Berlusconi, exploded while being examined by Italian authorities following a Greek police warning. Another was retrived from the outer office of German Chancellor Merkel. No one was injured.
Greek authorities halted international airmail for 48 hours, from November 3–4, 2010, following the mail bombings, and the police were reported to be searching for members of the Conspiracy of Fire Cells in relation to the attacks.
The Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei (Greek: Συνωμοσία των Πυρήνων της Φωτιάς also Conspiracy of Fire Cells; Conspiracy of Cells of Fire; Synomosia Pyrinon tis Fotias (SPF)) is an anarchist group based in Greece. SPF first surfaced on January 21, 2008 with a wave of 11 firebombs against luxury car dealerships and banks in Athens and Thessaloniki. Monthly arson incidents were followed by proclamations expressing solidarity with arrested anarchists in Greece and elsewhere. In September 2009, following an escalation to the use of crude time bombs, four suspected members of the group were arrested. In November 2010, two more suspects were arrested while attempting to mail parcel bombs to embassies and EU leaders and organizations. Their trial date was set for January 17, 2011.