Device left at embassy in Greece

A suspicious package found at the Hungarian embassy in Athens today contained no explosives, Greek police said.

A suspicious package found at the Hungarian embassy in Athens today contained no explosives, Greek police said.

Greek authorities have blamed leftist militants for a wave of parcel bombs sent to foreign governments and embassies in Athens last week, but the latest incident was a false alarm.

One official said police had planned to detonate the Hungarian embassy package, a large envelope, but decided not to after a thermal camera detected no explosive device.

"In the end, the parcel contained only documents. It was a false alarm," the police official said.

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Police, who had earlier cordoned off and evacuated the eight-storey building in central Athens where the embassy is located, said that employees were returning to their jobs.

Last week, a parcel with explosives was intercepted at the German chancellor's office and another addressed to Italy's prime minister caught fire when it was checked. Police also intercepted a booby-trapped parcel addressed to French president Nicolas Sarkozy.

Greek police said the parcels did not contain enough explosives to harm any recipient seriously.

Reuters