Elections | 03.10.2009

Leftist group admits bomb attack ahead of Greek election

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Security forces seal off the area in Athens where the bomb exploded

A leftist guerrilla group has admitted it detonated a small bomb shortly before a speech by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis in Athens on Friday. No one was hurt in the attack which took place ahead of Sunday's election.

The terrorist group, calling itself Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei, posted a message online saying that the bomb was intended to "send a message" to Greek authorities.

The statement said the group had infiltrated crowds of supporters of the Prime Minister's New Democracy party headed for the rally, a "stupid mass reminiscent of a zombie movie," and had placed the bomb and slipped away without being spotted by the handful of police stationed nearby.

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Greece has suffered social unrest following the financial crisis

The blast shattered windows at neighboring shops and caused minor damage to nearby motorbikes but the rally went ahead without further incident.

The terrorist group also claimed responsibility for another home-made bomb which exploded outside the home of a senior opposition socialist last week. Greek police arrested four suspected members of the group after that attack, though the online statement claimed that those arrested were not members of the group.

Greece has suffered a spate of minor bombings by various political groups in recent weeks as civil unrest grows.

Conservatives likely to lose

The Greek electorate will vote on Sunday in a snap election in which the incumbent conservatives, who have struggled to cope with the economic crisis and social discontent, are expected to lose to the opposition socialists.

Opinion polls suggest the Greek socialist PASOK party of Giorgos Papandreou will win, ending the rule of the Karamanlis' New Democracy party after five and a half years.

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Papandreou, left and Karamanlis

Karamanlis called an early election at the beginning of September, after several scandals and a deteriorating economic situation made his position untenable.

But it remains unclear whether the Socialists would win an absolute majority in the 300-seat parliament and end up governing alone. Both Karamanlis and Papandreou have pledged to pull Greece out of the economic crisis and root out corruption.

Greece is in a serious economic crisis: the budget deficit is estimated to be twice the permitted EU ceiling of three percent and public debt is expected to exceed 100 percent of gross domestic product by the end of 2009.

On top of this, the financial crisis is likely to affect vital tourism revenues and unemployment is rising for the first time in years.

bk/Reuters/AP/AFP

Editor: Sonia Phalnikar

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