Explosion Inside US Embassy Compound in Athens (Breaking: Fox News)

Fox ^ | 12 Jan 07 | Fox

[xzins]

Just announced as breaking news on Fox.

Mod, I'm sure it's not on their website yet.

Update:

Fox News

Explosions Rocks U.S. Embassy in Athens

Associated Press

Friday, January 12, 2007

ATHENS, Greece - Police cordoned off streets around the U.S. Embassy in Athens early Friday after an explosion inside the embassy compound.

Authorities searched nearby apartment buildings and a hospital amid reports that an explosive device may have been fired at the building. The blast smashed glass in the front of the building, near the U.S. emblem of the embassy.

"I heard a loud bang I didn't realize what was going on," said Giorgos Yiannoulis, who runs a kiosk near the embassy.

Excerpted. Story: Explosions Rocks U.S. Embassy in Athens

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

And don't blame everything bad on Muslims, either.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

And yet people here are blaming Muslims for this. How stupid.

[AdmSmith]

Greece is terror friendly. Anti-American hatred goes back decades, rooted in strong left wing parties.

The reason is their Orthodox roots with the Russian (i.e. earlier Soviet) connection and strong anti-Western (mainly anti-American) agenda from their politicians in the PASOK movement. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panhellenic_Socialist_Movement The earlier upper level of PASOK had very strange relations with revolutionary romantics such as 17N

[SQUID]

Well, it doesn't mean that Muslims are now vindicated somehow.

[apro]

"My final tour in Europe, we had a chapel tour planned to trace Paul's route in Greece. That's exactly when Kosovo went down, so our commander canceled it based on a State Department memo regarding danger in Greece. (Something to do with Macedonia at the time, IIRC."

I'm not surprise about that, given even if the government caved into the Clinton Admins. request in the end regarding Kosovo, the majority of the Greek population felt it was unjust war against fellow Serb Christians vs. Muslims and the whole FYROM thing has didn't help matters either. ;)

[apro]

Thanks for the updates, longtermmemmory. :)

[Sword_Svalbardt]

Turkish Cypriots? An ex Commanding officer of mine was executed in the late 1970's by Turkish Cypriots along with his driver in Athens.

Sounds like if it is not, then we are looking for Al Qaeda to push the edge of the envelope of terrorism to a new level - as if we did not expect it.

SS

[nopardons]

Because the damned Dems make us look weak.

[nopardons]

That's a pathetically ridiculous statement, n00b.

[nopardons]

bttt

[nopardons]

bttt

[Cindy]

UPDATE (and correcting my TKB.org link):

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=greece

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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1766319/posts

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http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20070112-112317-5467r.htm
Page 1 of 2 next »
"Leftists fire rocket into U.S. Embassy"
By Derek Gatopoulos
ASSOCIATED PRESS
January 13, 2007
ATHENS

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "But the type of weapon used has not been seen in previous Greek attacks: a 2.36-inch rocket, which police said was probably fired from an extendable Russian-made launcher."

===
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6254399.stm
Last Updated: Friday, 12 January 2007, 10:22 GMT

"Rocket hits US embassy in Athens"


ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Greece's Public Order Minister Vyron Polydoras said it was "very likely" a domestic group was behind the attack.

He said police were investigating claims that a left-wing radical group, Revolutionary Struggle, was responsible."

===
===

REVOLUTIONARY STRUGGLE
Mothertongue Name:
Epanastatikos Aghonas

Base of Operation: Greece


http://www.tkb.org/Group.jsp?groupID=3672

(NOTE: Click on link above to read the complete profile.)

[Valin]

Greeks trace attack on U.S. embassy to militants
By DEREK GATOPOULOS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
1/13/2007
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20070113/1023384.asp

ATHENS, Greece - The rocket-propelled grenade that slammed into the U.S. embassy on Friday has revived fears of a resurgence of far-left Greek militant groups that carried out deadly attacks over three decades.
The shoulder-fired missile narrowly missed a large blue-and-white U.S. seal on the embassy's facade and damaged a third-floor bathroom near the ambassador's office. There were no injuries.

U.S. Ambassador Charles Ries called the attack "very serious" and said no warning had been given.

"There can be no justification for such a senseless act of violence," he told reporters outside the cordoned-off embassy, which officials closed for the day. "The good news is no one was hurt and [there was] minimal damage."

Greek authorities blamed domestic militant groups that have carried out bombings against police and government buildings despite a crackdown on terrorism before the Athens Olympics in 2004.

Police are examining the authenticity of two calls claiming responsibility from the group Revolutionary Struggle, which has carried out six bombings since 2003. The shadowy group has criticized the United States in past statements, citing treatment of prisoners at the U.S. military detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"It is very likely that this is the work of a domestic group," Public Order Minister Vyron Polydoras said. "We believe this effort to revive terrorism is deplorable and will not succeed."

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the United States also saw no early signs of international involvement. The Pentagon received a report on the attack, but no request for any action, a U.S. military official said.

The blast shortly before 6 a.m. shattered windows in nearby buildings. Traffic in the downtown area came to a standstill for three hours as police blocked streets around the building to gather evidence - dusting cars for fingerprints and gathering discarded chewing gum and cigarette butts from the street.

The attack resembled methods used by members of the far-left terrorist group November 17, who eluded police between 1975 and eventual capture and conviction in 2003.

But the type of weapon used has not been seen in previous Greek attacks. Police identified it late Friday as a 1.57-inch rocket-propelled grenade, RPG7, which was made in China in the 1970s from a Russian design.

[Valin]

See reply 274

As to your question, As with any weapon it would depend on how it was stored. We're talkin 24 years, and I'd be a little leery of the propellant.

[nopardons]

Perhaps it is YOU, n00b, who should read history books, many of them, before you set yourself up as an "authority" on Ancient Roman history. ;^)

No, n00b, the Roman Empire didn't "fall from it's ( sic ) excesses"! And the Eastern Empire didn't "fall" for many centuries after the western part crumbled....but then, an "authority", such as yourself already knows that, don't you? LOL

And since America isn't an "EMPIRE", doesn't have a mostly foreign made up military, and isn't paying tribute to ever more increasing hordes ( a la Attila ), who come here, attack, demand tribute and then leave, only to keep repeating the cycle, I do heartily suggest that you not post about topics you don't know much about.

[nopardons]

Thanks for the update! This is precisely what Cindy and I had been speculating about, when first we heard of this attack.

[apro]

"But the type of weapon used has not been seen in previous Greek attacks. Police identified it late Friday as a 1.57-inch rocket-propelled grenade, RPG7, which was made in China in the 1970s from a Russian design."

This to me is quite telling. RPGs have never been the motto of Greek homegrown terror groups in the past, including RS'. I smell a rat in all this.

[Cindy]

Thank you Valin for the update.

[Valin]

This to me is quite telling. RPGs have never been the motto of Greek homegrown terror groups in the past, including RS'. I smell a rat in all this.

?