Suspect package disarmed at Greek embassy in Rome

Fire-fighters carrying hoses enter the Greek embassy in Rome, December 27, 2010, as Carabinieri officers stand outside.

ROME -- Bomb disposal experts disarmed on Monday a device sent to the Greek embassy in Rome, days after parcel bomb attacks claimed by an Italian anarchist group wounded two people at the Swiss and Chilean missions.

Police said the package found at the Greek embassy resembled the bombs which exploded in Rome last week, costing an employee of the Chilean embassy two fingers and also injuring a member of the Swiss embassy staff.

"The package was similar to the ones at the other embassies," Maurizio Mezzavilla, an official of the carabinieri, Italy's paramilitary police, told reporters outside the embassy, adding that anarchist involvement "could not be ruled out."

However, he said investigations were still being conducted and there was no firm evidence of who was responsible.

"A suspect package arrived; we immediately informed the carabinieri who arrived immediately and neutralized the bomb," Michael Campanis, the Greek ambassador to Italy told reporters.

He said the package, addressed by hand, had arrived in the embassy on December 24.

"We had not received any threats previously. The packet arrived on Friday afternoon when the embassy was already closed. The staff member found it this morning but security measures had already been stepped up," he said, adding that it appeared likely that the anarchists were responsible.

"Since it was the same kind of package as the others, that is our hypothesis," he said.

Last week, an Italian anarchist group called the Informal Anarchist Federation (FAI) claimed responsibility in a note for the parcel bombs at the Swiss and Chilean embassies.

Authorities have been on high alert since the attacks and there were false alarms at the Venezuelan, Danish, Monaco and Kuwaiti embassies as suspect packages turned out to be harmless.

There were other false alarms at the Irish and Ukrainian embassies last week.

The incidents have re-awakened concern over a potential rise in violence by domestic European militant groups as social tensions have grown following the financial crisis and government austerity packages imposed to pay for it.

Source:/www.chinadaily.com.cn