Bomb damages Athens stock market, one hurt

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Bomb damages Athens stock market, one hurt
Wed Sep 2, 2009 2:57am EDT

2:22am EDTBy Renee Maltezou

ATHENS (Reuters) - A car bomb blew up outside the Athens stock exchange on Wednesday, slightly wounding one woman, damaging the building and setting eight vehicles ablaze, Greek police said.

The Athens bourse said it would open normally despite the attack, the latest of several against business and police targets since the December 2008 police shooting of a teenager sparked Greece's worst riots in decades.

The powerful blast came after an anonymous early morning warning call to a Greek newspaper. It blew out windows on several floors of the stock exchange and hurled debris hundreds of meters (yards) away from the building.

"It was an explosive device. The remains of it were found in a damaged car," said Greek police spokesman Panayiotis Stathis.

Police said a home-made bomb exploded at the same time outside a government building in the northern city of Thessaloniki, causing minor damage but no injuries.

A car dealership near the Athens bourse was seriously damaged by the bomb, planted in a white van which was parked on the side of the building and which was completely destroyed by the blast.

The chairman of the Athens Stock Exchange, Spyros Kapralos, said the damage to the building was substantial but officials were working hard to open for trading.

"Despite the huge material damages caused to the building by today's explosion, both the Athens and the Cyprus stock markets will operate normally," the bourse said in a statement.

The Athens stock exchange normally opens at 7:30 a.m. EDT. Athens and Nicosia share a trading platform.

The area was cordoned off by anti-terrorist police scouring for evidence.

Leftist and anarchist guerrilla groups have claimed responsibility for several attacks against businesses, cars and police this year, culminating with the assassination of a policeman in his car in June.

It was not immediately clear whether one of them was behind Wednesday's attack.

(Additional reporting by Dina Kyriakidou and George Georgiopoulos; Writing by Dina Kyriakidou: Editing by Dominic Evans)

Bomb damages Athens stock market, one hurt | International | Reuters

 

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Page last updated at 06:07 GMT, Wednesday, 2 September 2009 07:07 UK
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Bomb hits Athens stock exchange
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Investigators scour the bomb site

A bomb has exploded outside the Athens stock exchange, slightly injuring a female passer-by and damaging the building, police say.

The bomb - which set fire to several cars - was hidden in a stolen van.

Another bomb went off outside a government building in Thessaloniki, causing minor damage and no injuries.

The blasts may be the work of a Greek extremists' group, Revolutionary Struggle, says the BBC's Malcolm Brabant in Athens.

Earlier this year the group claimed responsibility for two bombs aimed at the American Citibank group.

Flying glass

A warning of the Athens explosion was telephoned to a local newspaper, enabling police to seal off the area in the west of Athens before the bomb went off.

Police initially said it had caused only minor damage. But later reports said windows at the bourse had been blown out, and a neighbouring car dealership had been damaged along with nearby trees and parked cars.

One passing woman was slightly injured by flying glass.

The bomb in Thessaloniki caused minor damage around the ministry responsible for Greece's two northern provinces of Macedonia and Thrace.

In a letter to a satirical newspaper, Revolutionary Struggle had promised more attacks against economic targets.

It said: "We need to rid ourselves for good of all the scum of economic and political power so that humanity can free itself from these criminals."

Greece has been dogged by unrest since police shot a teenager last December.

The death sparked the country's worst riots in decades, leading to clashes between police and protesters in the weeks that followed.

BBC NEWS | Europe | Bomb hits Athens stock exchange

 

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TIMELINE: Bomb attacks in Greece
Wed Sep 2, 2009 8:52am EDT

(Reuters) - A car bomb blew up outside the Athens stock exchange on Wednesday, slightly injuring one woman, in what Greek police suspect was the latest attack by leftist or anarchist groups.

Here is a timeline of some major attacks in Greece over the last two years:

January 2007 - Guerrillas fire a grenade at the U.S. embassy in Athens, hitting its facade.

April 2007 - Gunmen attack the Nea Ionia police station in Athens. In May, the Revolutionary Struggle group, which has emerged as Greece's most serious domestic security threat since the dismantling of the November 17 guerrilla group in 2002, claim responsibility for this and the January attack.

October 24, 2008 - An attempted bomb attack outside Royal Dutch Shell's headquarters in the south of Athens, fails. The Revolutionary Struggle group later claim responsibility.

January 5, 2009 - Weeks after the police shooting of a teenager in December 2008, gunmen linked to the Revolutionary Struggle seriously wound a 21-year-old policeman guarding the Culture Ministry in Athens. They said it was in revenge for the death of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos.

February 3 - Left-wing guerrillas from the Rebel Sect group fire shots and throw a grenade at a police station in Athens. A fortnight later, gunmen fire at least a dozen shots outside a private TV station, without injuring anyone in either attack.

March 4 - Arsonists throw gas canisters and firebombs causing a fire which seriously damages the Piraeus Bank branch in the northern Athens suburb of New Psychico.

March 11 - Revolutionary Struggle claim it was behind two bomb attacks at Citibank branches in Athens. One attack was outside the headquarters on February 18 and the other, a bomb that went off outside a Citibank branch in Athens on March 10.

March 13 - A bomb explodes about 250 meters from Athens central police headquarters, causing serious damage to a state building and shops but no injuries. The leftist urban guerrilla group Popular Will later claims responsibility.

May 12 - A powerful bomb wrecks a Greek Eurobank branch in the outskirts of Athens. There are no injuries.

May 20 - A time bomb goes off outside the office of a Greek investment company, damaging three floors of the central Athens building. Popular Will says it planted the bomb.

May 19 - Two small time bombs explode at Greek police stations under construction, causing minor damage but no injuries. The leftist group Fire Conspiracy Cells later claims responsibility.

June 17 - A Greek anti-terrorism policeman is killed in Athens. He was shot several times at close range. On June 22, the far-left Rebel Sect urban guerrilla group claim the killing.

July 11 - A bomb explodes at the entrance to the home of former deputy minister Panagiotis Hinofotis in southern Athens, causing damage but no injuries. The Fire Conspiracy Cells group later claims responsibility.

Sept 2 - The Athens bourse is struck by a bomb causing extensive damage, but it opens for trading at the usual time.

-- A home-made bomb explodes outside a government building in the northern city of Thessaloniki, causing minor damage.

TIMELINE: Bomb attacks in Greece | International | Reuters