A senior British diplomat, Brig Stephen Saunders, was assassinated in Athens yesterday as he drove to work in a brazen early morning attack believed to be the work of Greece's infamous terrorist group November 17.
The Briton was shot four times in the head, chest and arms by two helmeted assailants on a motorbike as he stopped at traffic lights on a central Athenian boulevard. Despite a capital-wide manhunt, the gunmen had still not been found last night after disappearing into heavy traffic.
Eyewitnesses told Greek television that the diplomat, who was driving unescorted in a car deliberately stripped of its diplomatic insignia, dropped out of the vehicle in a pool of blood after being shot. Greek doctors pronounced the 55-year-old father of two dead only hours later at Athens Red Cross hospital after failing to keep him alive with blood transfusions.
The public order ministry said the cold-blooded murder bore all the hallmarks of the West's most dangerous terrorist gang, the Marxist Leninist November 17. Bullet shells found at the scene of the murder showed the assassins had used the same .45 calibre pistol employed by the group to kill almost all of its 23 victims since first emerging with the collapse of the Colonels' regime in 1975.
No member of the home-grown revolutionary organisation has even been captured. The assassination quickly highlighted the soft underbelly of a country that while one of Europe's most popular tourist destinations is also considered the most dangerous spot for diplomats in Europe.
Yesterday, clearly embarrassed Greek officials vowed to do all they could to erase "the terrorist scourge" that has seen Greece become the butt of international criticism. Prominent politicians including the erstwhile prime minister, Mr Constantine Mitsotakis, voiced fears the assassination would cast further doubts over Greece's ability to stage the 2004 Olympic Games.
"This odious attack has just highlighted our country's ineptitude and tardiness in cracking down on it worst menace. . . . I think we have come to the point where we should think carefully about hosting the Olympics," said Mr Mitsotakis, whose sonin-law, the politician, Mr Pavlos Bakoyiannis, was assassinated by November 17.
The murder of the British diplomat coincided with US allegations yesterday that individuals in the ruling socialist party, Pasok, "knew" members of the notorious gang. Last night, the Greek government said it would take legal measures against Mr Robert James Woolsey, the former chief of the CIA, for saying this in a weekly Greek magazine.
Counter-terrorism officials said the ease with which the assailants acted, attacking in broad daylight, proved the diplomat had been closely followed before the assassination.
Because of terrorism fears the US spends more on security in Athens than anywhere else in the world. British diplomats have clear instructions to change their routes frequently and to check their cars to outwit possible assailants.
Speculation as to the motive included the idea that Brig Saunders was assassinated in retaliation for Nato's bombardment and liberation of Kosovo a year ago this weekend.
Another was increased recent British help in training local policemen in counter-terrorism.