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Thursday 23 December 2010

Police sweep Rome embassies after double bombing

Rome - Police launched a city-wide inspection of embassies after bombs exploded at two embassies Thursday, injuring one person at each.
"There is serious threat against foreign embassies in Rome," Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told reporters after the explosions.
"It is too early to know the origin of the threat. We are checking all the embassies in Rome and the Italian embassies abroad for suspicious packages. We should avoid being alarmist. The police are investigating the situation," he said.

The first explosion, a package bomb at the Swiss Embassy, seriously wounded the person who opened it, police said.
A second bomb exploded at the Chilean Embassy shortly afterwards, wounding one person, who was taken to a hospital, according to police.

And a "suspicious package" was found at the Ukrainian Embassy in the Italian capital, police said, but it turned out not to be dangerous.
Police began their sweeps of all embassies and consulates after the blasts, they said. Many countries have two diplomatic missions in the city -- one to the Italian state and a separate one to the Vatican.

Bomb threats were phoned to City Hall and to another government office in Rome, the mayor's office said. No bombs have been found in either location.
There has been no claim of responsibility for the attacks.
The bombings come a day after police blanketed Rome in heavy security due to student demonstrations.
The demonstrations passed off largely peacefully, but protests a week earlier resulted in many minor injuries and millions of dollars in damage.

In Thursday's attacks, a 53-year-old mail room worker in the Swiss Embassy was badly injured in both hands, and may lose one, police said.
He was taken to Humberto Primo hospital, according to police. They have not released his name, but said he was born in Switzerland.

There was no warning of the attack, the Swiss Foreign Ministry in Bern said.
A fire department bomb unit was on the scene at the Swiss Embassy, police said. The explosion happened in the mail room at the embassy, which also houses the ambassador's residence.
Shortly after the blast at the Swiss Embassy, Frattini released a statement of solidarity with "the Swiss ambassador and with all the staff of the Embassy. They were victim of a violent act that we firmly condemn."
In November, police discovered 14 parcel bombs emanating from Greece, most of which were sent to various embassies in Athens.

Police intercepted and destroyed most of them in controlled explosions, but a woman at a courier office was wounded by one of the devices and another device exploded in the courtyard of the Swiss Embassy.
Other parcel bombs were addressed to European targets including the leaders of Germany and Italy.
Two men accused of participating in the bombings were remanded into custody after they were arrested in Athens in possession of two parcel bombs, Glock pistols, a bulletproof vest, and a wig.
Panagiotis Argyrou, 22, and Gerasimos Tsakalos, 24 were also in possession of a delivery slip for another parcel containing an explosive device which had been delivered to a courier service and was addressed to the Dutch Embassy, police said.

Hellenic Police spokesman Maj. Athanasios Kokkalakis called the two suspects "important members of a terrorist group."
Before the attacks, Argyrou already faced an arrest warrant for his alleged membership in an illegal organization called the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire.
Greek authorities stressed that they believed the wave letter bombs there was the work of a home-grown Greek terrorist group that does not have ties to international organizations like al Qaeda.

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