A Greek extremist group called the Revolutionary Struggle has threatened visitors to the Olympic Games, adding to security woes just three months out from the start of the event. The warning came after makeshift bombs exploded at a Greek bank in an Athens suburb early on Thursday, and another explosive device was found at a nearby British bank. Devices made up of gas canisters exploded at 2am at an automatic teller machine owned by Alpha Bank, Greece's second largest bank and an Olympics sponsor. Another unidentified explosive device was found outside the office of the British-owned HSBC bank and defused.
The blasts, which caused some damage but no injuries, came eight days after dynamite explosions at a police station in Athens, an incident blamed on local extremists rather than international terror groups like al-Qaeda. The Revolutionary Struggle group on Thursday claimed responsibility for the May 5 bombings and issued a warning to visitors to the Olympics, which run from August 13 to 29. It described government officials, business leaders, security officials and wealthy tourists who plan to attend the event as "undesirables". Greece announced this week that 70,000 security personnel will watch over the Games - outnumbering athletes by almost seven to one - with Olympic officials saying preparations for the sporting extravaganza were on track. |