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Today's News | News of Jan 12, 2007
US Embassy in Greece Attacked

Athens, Jan 12 (DPA) A blast went off in the US Embassy in the Greek capital Friday morning, but there were no immediate reports of injuries. Initial reports said that the blast was caused by a rocket attack, which came from across the back end of the embassy, from an old apartment building. Police said one or two windows of the second or third floor of the building had been shattered.

The rocket reportedly landed inside the toilets located on the third floor of the building. Greek state television NET quoting police sources said the assailants had escaped on foot. Dozens of police cars cordoned off all roads around the embassy, including a major boulevard in front of the mission, causing traffic jams in the area.

Greek anti-terrorist police were at the scene and were investigating.

"We heard a loud explosion a little before 6 a.m.," said one resident.

Another witness at the scene said his car rocked from side to side as he was driving to a hospital located nearby. The explosion shattered glass in several homes, which were located right across from the embassy.

Police at the scene said the explosion damaged the official embassy sign outside the mission. Another witness at the scene said that a lock of one of the three-meter high steel fence gates had been clearly broken with explosives.

Greece's biggest terrorist organization, the left-wing group Nov 17, which has killed US and other foreign diplomats in Greece, was dismantled in 2003.

In February 1996, unidentified assailants fired a rocket at the US Embassy compound, causing minor damage to diplomatic vehicles and surrounding buildings.

RIA Novosti adds: An extremist group Revolutionary Struggle has claimed responsibility for a shell attack on the US Embassy, police said, citing an anonymous phone call to the embassy.

The attackers apparently targeted the US emblem on the embassy building, but the rocket shell missed the target.

The group also claimed responsibility earlier for three powerful explosions near ministry buildings in the Greek capital, and for an unsuccessful assassination attempt on a former public order minister in June 2006.

American diplomats said the embassy, which has been a frequent target for protesters, would be closed for the rest of the day.

The latest rally near the embassy occurred last November, when marchers came to mark the anniversary of the end of the military dictatorship that ruled Greece in 1967-74, and to protest against Washington's support for it as well as the US invasion of Iraq.   

DPA  News of Jan 12, 2007

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