Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Instant View: Bomb incidents in Greece



ATHENS  - Bombs were sent to a number of embassies in the Greek capital Athens on Tuesday.
Police suspect the attacks are linked to Greek leftist guerrillas. Here is some reaction to the incidents:
DAVID LEA, WESTERN EUROPE ANALYST, CONTROL RISKS

"The number of these parcel bombs is beginning to be startling. But it's still not a million miles away from what we've been used to in Greece for the last 10 years or so. The prime suspects would have to be the anarchists or far left as usual. If this is it, the story will fade but if there's another flurry tomorrow, it's a different matter.

"It is a slightly strange list of targets. I would guess that these bombs were very easily detectable which is why they've gone for softer embassy targets rather than Greek government ministries or higher security embassies like the UK or U.S.

"They knew they were never going to get close to Sarkozy but would have gone for him because he's been in the news because of the pension protests. The Chileans have been in the news because of the miners. I'm guessing they were aiming for pretty much what happened -- for one bomb to go undetected and the rest to be caught."

BLANKA KOLENIKOVA, ANALYST, IHS GLOBAL INSIGHT
"With these austerity measures and the government saying it wants to crack down on extremism, I think we can expect these kind of attacks from time to time.

"It's hard to explain the choice of embassies. So far, the evidence suggests these are not particularly serious attacks.

"Nevertheless, given that left-wing militants tend to blame the country's fiscal woes on 'wheels of capitalism', the unpopular cost-cutting measures could see recruits to such groups increasing."



 

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