Two more urban guerrilla attacks occurred in Athens and Salonica respectively within 24 hours of the armed attack against a police station in Athens. A time-bomb hit the house of a leading conservative politician in Athens and another explosive mechanism hit the Spanish consulate in Salonica. At the same time confusion reigns over the communique with which a new armed group appears to be claiming responsibility for Tuesday's attack.
Within less than 60 hours of the Tuesday armed attack against the police station of Agia Paraskevi in Athens which has left 6 police officers seriously wounded (two remain in intensive care), two more attacks, with explosives this time, have come to add up tension to the already heated social and political climate in greece.
On the early hours of Friday 30 of October, a time-bomb hit the entrance of the house of a leading conservative politician, Ms Marietta Giannakou, causing material damage but no human injuries, as a phone-call by the urban guerrillas to the press had warned of the explosion. Ms Giannakou is the leading MEP of the now in opposition New Democracy right-wing party, and was the Minister of Education during the massive movement against educational reforms in 2006-2007. The attack against Ms Giannakou's house has been claimed through a long communique by the Nuclei of Fire Conspiracy who amongst other things used the opportunity to communicate their views against anarchist participation in educational protest marches, professing once again their self-proclaimed nihilist platform.
Earlier this week the Minister of Public Order, Mr Chrisochoidis, has gone public urging the 6 persons wanted in relation to the Nuclei of Fire bomb campaign to surrender, arguing that the State will show lineancy due to the young of their age.
The same night in Salonica, the Spanish Consulate was hit by an explosive mechanism. A communique by a first appearing group has claimed the attack was in solidarity to Amadeu Casellas, a long-term anarchist prisoner in Spain. Last week more explosive mechanisms in Salonica had hit several MP offices, including the office of the Debuty Minister of Public Order, Mr Vougias, as well as the house of the extreme-right minded Archibishop of Salonica.
The new attacks come to add to the climate of escalating tension in the country, to which considerably confusion was added by a communique published on Friday in the daily press, claiming responsibility for the Tuesday attack against the police station of Agia Paraskevi. The communique which employs long quotes from the Communist Party leader during the Civil War, Nikos Zachariadis, as well as from the Communist International, is signed by the acronyms OPLA, the name of the Communist Party "Groups for the Protection of People's Struggle', an elite corps of combat units and intelligence teams during the Civil War, notorious for assassinations of both monarchofascists and political opponents within the communist movement. Besides changing the acronym to now mean "Groups of Popular Proletarian Self-Defense", the communique consists largely of paraphrases of the original text announcing the forming of OPLA in the 1940s, urging "the organisation of structures of mass popular self-defense" against state and parastate repression. The Communist Party of Greece has responded angrily, denouncing the communique as a provocation and a mockery of history and the armed struggle of the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE). The authenticity of the communique remains highly disputed and controversial.
Comments
There is a factual typo in
There is a factual typo in the first line, please correct is as suggested in my edited version
the statement of the "Groups
the statement of the "Groups of Popular Proletarian Self-Defense": http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/2009/10/30/118-a-very-strange-communique-regarding-the-armed-attack-on-the-police-station-in-athens/