Greek PM denies link of bomb blasts with Olympics

Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis said Wednesday that the three time-bomb blasts outside a police station in Athens in the early hours of the day were an "isolated incident" that did not affect the security of Greece's Olympic preparations.

He said the Greek people's efforts, as well as the country's "close collaboration" with the authoritative services of the EU, NATO and the US "ensure the security of the Games."

Three home-made bombs exploded behind the police precinct in the Athens suburb of Kallithea early Wednesday, causing damage but no injuries.

A warning call had been placed to an Athens daily a few minutes before the blasts, but it was not immediately known whether the unidentified caller claimed responsibility on behalf of any organization.

Bomb squad experts, however, said the home-made bombs resembled those often used by the "Revolutionary Struggle" group.

The explosions were caused by home-made time-bombs comprising atabletop watch, a detonator, 9V batteries and dynamite, they said.

The first explosion occurred at 3:55 a.m., followed by a second explosion at 4:00 and a third blast at 4:29, outside the building that houses the Kallithea police department, the local security police offices and the Kallithea traffic police.

The blasts came before events to mark 100 days before the Aug. 13-29 Olympics.

Government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos told reporters that even isolated incidents that could take place anywhere in the world were treated by the Greek authorities with "due seriousness and responsibility".

He said that according to information collected so far, there was no indication that the incident was linked with preparations for the Olympic Games to be hosted by Athens in August.

Police analysts also believe the series of bomb attacks was not linked to the Olympic Games, given the fact that the target selected was a police station and not an Olympics venue or other facility.

Greek authorities claimed there is no domestic terrorist group following the convictions last year of ultra-leftist group named November 17, which blamed for 23 killings and dozens of other attacks since 1975.

But smaller groups have continued to carry out bombings and arson attacks in Athens and other cities, but most are against cars and commercial targets and rarely cause injuries.

Source: Xinhua