GREECE: Just 100 days before the start of the Athens Olympics, three bombs exploded outside a police station in the Greek capital raising new security concerns about the world's biggest sporting event.
The Greek government was quick to play down the blasts, saying there was no evidence to link the explosions with the Games and pointed the finger at home-grown extremists.
"This is an isolated incident which does not affect whatsoever the Olympic preparation of the country," Prime Minister Mr Costas Karamanlis told reporters.
Britain and France gave Greek Olympics organisers a vote of confidence, but Olympic powerhouse Australia ordered a review of its security arrangements. Athens police, the apparent target of the attacks, also said there was cause for concern.
"Those who planted the bombs did not want to just make themselves heard, they wanted to harm people," local police chief George Angellakos told reporters. Security forces have been on high alert amid fears that the Games, the first summer Olympics since the September 11th, 2001, attacks on the US, could be targeted by militants.
Britain, France and Australia are all part of a first-ever international Olympic security advisory group which includes Germany, the US, Spain and Israel, and has been set up to provide help in planning, training and intelligence. Greece has a record €1 billion security plan for the games with more than 50,000 security staff and has asked NATO for help with air and sea patrols as well as protection against weapons of mass destruction. "Our co-operation with the EU, NATO and the US authorities guarantees the safety of the Athens Olympics," said Mr Karamanlis.
Yesterday's pre-dawn explosions, preceded by an anonymous telephone warning, badly damaged the station in the densely populated Kalithea district near hotels to be used by Olympic officials during the August 13th-29th Olympics.
The third bomb went off 30 minutes after the first two blasts while dozens of bomb experts were combing the cordoned-off area for forensic evidence.
No one has yet claimed responsibility, but police said initial evidence pointed to small local anarchist and leftist groups that regularly stage minor bomb attacks around Athens, sometimes in protest against the Olympics.
Olympic visitors face dirty sheets and stale coffee at the Games unless a pay deal is agreed with tourist industry workers, a union representing some 450,000 employees said yesterday.
The union for workers in hotels, restaurants, tavernas and cafes wants an 8 per cent pay rise and an Olympic bonus equal to two months pay.