Italian anarchists claim responsibility for Greek mail bomb

Apr 1, 2011, 13:18 GMT

Athens - Greek police on Friday said an Italian anarchist group has claimed responsibility for a mail bomb which was intercepted at a maximum security prison in Athens.

Police said the bomb, which experts defused by carrying out a controlled explosion on Thursday at Athens' Maximum Security Korydallos Prison, contained a proclamation letter by the Italian Informal Anarchist Federation (FAI).

The letter, which was in Italian, expressed solidarity with fellow anarchists in prison in Greece, Chile, Switzerland and Germany, police said in a statement.

FAI has admitted to being behind the parcel bomb attacks against embassies in Rome in December which injured two people.

A group of Greek militant left-wing anarchists has claimed responsibility for a number of parcel bombs sent in November to embassies, government buildings and the homes of Greek politicians.

The trial of nine people allegedly involved in such attacks is still underway in a court room in Korydallos prison. The defendants, all in their early 20s, are members of the Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei.

They face a maximum of 25 years in prison if found guilty.

Separately, Greek police recently arrested several suspected members of the far-left organization Revolutionary Struggle.

Revolutionary Struggle has been active since 2003 and has carried out more than a dozen attacks, including a rocket strike against the US embassy in Athens three years ago and a bomb attack on the Athens Stock Exchange last year.

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