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| Shots Fired at Office of Greek Prime Minister | Shots Fired at Office of Greek Prime Minister |
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| ATHENS — Rifle shots were fired early Monday into the Athens offices of Greece’s conservative party, which leads the fragile coalition government, causing no injuries but intensifying a wave of political violence in the debt-wracked country. | ATHENS — Rifle shots were fired early Monday into the Athens offices of Greece’s conservative party, which leads the fragile coalition government, causing no injuries but intensifying a wave of political violence in the debt-wracked country. |
| A police spokesman said Kalashnikov-type assault rifles were used in the attack which followed a series of bloodless bombings targeting media and political targets in recent days. | A police spokesman said Kalashnikov-type assault rifles were used in the attack which followed a series of bloodless bombings targeting media and political targets in recent days. |
| A bullet shattered the window of the third-floor of the building and was found in the office of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, according to a police spokesman who said another bullet was found on the roof and nine casings outside the building, which is on a busy thoroughfare near central Athens. Security guards saw two men getting out of a car shortly before 3 a.m. and opening fire at the new Democracy party offices which were empty at the time of the attack, according to the police. | A bullet shattered the window of the third-floor of the building and was found in the office of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, according to a police spokesman who said another bullet was found on the roof and nine casings outside the building, which is on a busy thoroughfare near central Athens. Security guards saw two men getting out of a car shortly before 3 a.m. and opening fire at the new Democracy party offices which were empty at the time of the attack, according to the police. |
| Police did not speculate on the identity of the assailants but state television reported that antiterrorism officers had joined the investigation. A string of attacks involving homemade gas canister bombs on Friday that targeted five prominent journalists was claimed by an anarchist group called Militant Minority-Lovers of Lawlessness. It cited media coverage of Greece’s economic crisis seen as sympathetic to the austerity drive being imposed by the Greek government and its international creditors, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, which have pledged 240 billion euros in loans to Greece since 2010. | |
| Attacks on local offices of New Democracy, on banks and on a building belonging to the state power board, which levies an unpopular property tax, have yet to be claimed though police investigations are focusing on anti-establishment or anarchist groups who have used gas canister bombs to protest austerity in recent years. Dozens of suspected anarchists were arrested last week in a raid in central Athens where police confiscated petrol bombs. | Attacks on local offices of New Democracy, on banks and on a building belonging to the state power board, which levies an unpopular property tax, have yet to be claimed though police investigations are focusing on anti-establishment or anarchist groups who have used gas canister bombs to protest austerity in recent years. Dozens of suspected anarchists were arrested last week in a raid in central Athens where police confiscated petrol bombs. |
| Unidentified bombers also targeted the Athens home of the brother of government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou late Saturday. | Unidentified bombers also targeted the Athens home of the brother of government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou late Saturday. |
| In a statement on Monday, Mr. Kedikoglou pointed to a “dangerous escalation of spreading terror” and took a dig at Syriza, the main leftist opposition party, which he has repeatedly urged to condemn attacks apparently linked to anarchist and far-leftist groups. | In a statement on Monday, Mr. Kedikoglou pointed to a “dangerous escalation of spreading terror” and took a dig at Syriza, the main leftist opposition party, which he has repeatedly urged to condemn attacks apparently linked to anarchist and far-leftist groups. |
| “The difference between inflammatory statements and inflammatory attacks is very small,” said Mr. Kedikoglou said on Monday. “There has to be a clear denunciation of violence and verbal violence.” | “The difference between inflammatory statements and inflammatory attacks is very small,” said Mr. Kedikoglou said on Monday. “There has to be a clear denunciation of violence and verbal violence.” |
| A Syriza spokesman, Panos Skourletis, said his party’s condemnation of the attacks was a “given” and accused New Democracy of creating a “civil war climate” to distract public attention from an ongoing austerity drive and from economic problems and political scandals which have helped the leftists rise in opinion polls. The leader of Syriza, Alexis Tsipras, who was in Berlin on Monday to meet with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, spoke by telephone with Mr. Samaras after Monday’s assault to ask for a thorough investigation into the bombings, according to state television. | A Syriza spokesman, Panos Skourletis, said his party’s condemnation of the attacks was a “given” and accused New Democracy of creating a “civil war climate” to distract public attention from an ongoing austerity drive and from economic problems and political scandals which have helped the leftists rise in opinion polls. The leader of Syriza, Alexis Tsipras, who was in Berlin on Monday to meet with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, spoke by telephone with Mr. Samaras after Monday’s assault to ask for a thorough investigation into the bombings, according to state television. |
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: | |
| Correction: January 14, 2013 | |
An earlier version of this article misstated a group that claimed responsibility for attacks involving homemade gas canister bombs on Friday. The group was Militant Minority-Lovers of Lawlessness, not Military Minority-Lovers of Lawlessness. |