VZCZCXRO5628
RR RUEHIK
DE RUEHIK #0018 1001745
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 101745Z APR 09
FM AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0436
INFO RUEHTH/AMEMBASSY ATHENS 0322
RUEHIK/AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI 0479

UNCLAS THESSALONIKI 000018 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT. FOR DS/IP/EUR, DS/DSS/TIA, EUR/SE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC GR
SUBJECT: THESSALONIKI:  BOMBS IN CHURCHES FAIL TO DETONATE BUT RAISE 
FEARS OF ANARCHIST ESCALATION 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  An anarchist group claimed responsibility 
for planting three explosive devices with timing mechanisms in 
two of Thessaloniki's most well-known churches on April 9. 
Tipped off by an anonymous caller, police found the devices 
before they had detonated.  One of the devices caused a small 
fire, possibly from an incorrectly installed detonator.  Both 
churches were full of pre-Easter worshippers at the time.  The 
incident is the latest in a series of increasingly brazen 
anarchist attacks on downtown targets.  Police assure Post they 
are determined to rein in anarchists and secure downtown 
businesses and organizations, including the Consulate. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) According to Thessaloniki Security Police deputy 
director Colonel Dimitris Tsaknakis, on April 9 at about 14:00 
an unidentified male contacted the "Alter" TV channel in Athens 
and said that bombs would go off at the two biggest churches in 
downtown Thessaloniki: Saint Dimitrios and Saint Sofia.  (Note: 
the caller also warned of bombings at two churches in Athens, 
septel.  End note.) 
The Bomb Squad searched the churches and located two incendiary 
devices in Saint Dimitrios one in Saint Sofia.  Each device was 
composed of 4 propane canisters, a plastic container of 
flammable liquid and a battery-operated clock detonator with a 
fuse.  The device at Saint Sofia had not been detonated and 
caused no damage.  One of the devices at Saint Dimitrios was 
discovered by a church official after it had started smoking and 
caused a small fire, which the official extinguished.  The other 
device had not been detonated.  The Metropolitan of 
Thessaloniki, Anthimos, told media that, as is usual during the 
pre-Easter period, the churches were full of worshippers and 
visitors (at the time the bombs were found) and were lucky not 
to have been harmed. 
 
 
¶3.  (SBU) According to Colonel Tsankakis the devices did not 
explode because the detonators were not connected properly to 
the gas canisters.  Police took the devices to the lab for 
investigation.  Tsaknakis attributed the attempted bombings to 
self-styled anarchists who have carried out a number of attacks 
with gas canisters and Molotov Cocktails over the past six 
months throughout the city.  This is the first such attack on a 
church, though some vandalism occurred during the December 2008 
riots triggered by the shooting of a teenager by a police 
officer in Athens.  Most of the previous attacks have been 
directed at businesses and political offices.  An organization 
calling itself "Conspiracy Nuclei of fire/Commando Splinter 
group nihilists" claimed responsibility for the attacks via 
e-mail to the Athens based Indymedia web page on the night of 
April 9. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) COMMENT:  The placing of bombs in Thessaloniki's two 
most important Orthodox Christian churches (dating from the 8th 
and 7th centuries AD), is the latest in a series of increasingly 
brazen attacks committed by anarchists in Thessaloniki in recent 
weeks.  In a departure from past pratices, anarchists and their 
cohorts are striking in broad daylight in busy downtown areas 
(e.g. the ransacking of department stores by crowbar-wielding 
thugs on March 28 and the simultaneous fire bombings of six 
political party offices on March 30).  Though the attacks have 
so far caused only damage to property, local businesses and 
politicians are concerned the violence may escalate if left 
unchecked.  Senior police officials told CG on April 8 they are 
determined to rein in the anarchists, whom they believe to be 
small in number, and are taking steps to strengthen the security 
of downtown businesses and organizations (including the 
Consulate). 
 
YEE