O 121417Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY ATHENS
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2922
INFO NCTC WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS ATHENS 001671 
 
 
FOR S/CT RHONDA SHORE AND NCTC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER ASEC GR
SUBJECT: GREECE: 2008 COUNTRY REPORT ON TERRORISM 
 
REF: STATE 120019 
 
¶1. Embassy Athens provides the following submission for 
Greece for the "Country Reports on Terrorism (CRT) 2008." 
 
¶2. Begin report: 
 
Greece 
 
Greece is increasingly an EU entry point for illegal 
immigrants coming from the Middle East.  As such there is 
ongoing concern that it could be used as a transit route for 
terrorists traveling to Europe and the United States.  The 
number of illegal migrants entering Greece through the Aegean 
Sea increased dramatically in 2007 and 2008 and about 100,000 
illegals are arrested annually.  To date, however, we have no 
confirmed evidence of terrorist transit. 
 
Greek authorities cooperate with U.S. officials on 
information sharing, training of Greek security and customs 
officials, as well as judicial personnel, and participation 
in the Container Security Initiative (CSI).  Greece is also 
an active participant in the Proliferation Security 
Initiative (PSI).  A bilateral PSI ship boarding agreement 
was under consideration at year's end.  Greece sustained its 
participation in the International Security Assistance Force 
(ISAF) in Afghanistan by providing engineers and ISAF 
headquarters perQ!"$$ QQ! )  !"!QQ Q30 troops.  Greek 
forces were limited to operating in the Kabul region. 
 
Many of the domestic Marxist terrorist group November 17 
(N17), which killed 5 employees of the U.S. Embassy and a 
total of 23 Greek and other NATO officials, were apprehended 
by Greek authorities in 2002 and tried for their crimes.  In 
2003, Greek courts handed down multiple life sentences to key 
members.  In May 2007, the Athens Court of Appeals upheld 
convictions on 218 criminal counts.  Six of those originally 
charged were either acquitted or prosecutions were 
time-barred under Greek law.  In separate decisions from 2003 
to 2007, two of the convicts were released for medical 
reasons and two more were released after their sentences were 
reduced to time served.  Even from prison, convicted N17 
members have continued to make extremist public statements. 
For example, Dimitrios Koufodinas released a statement in a 
Greek newspaper in November 2008 extolling "direct action" 
that would "strike blows to the capitalist system." 
 
During the original N17 trial, a new domestic terrorism group 
calling itself Revolutionary Struggle (RS) emerged.  RS is a 
radical leftist group, which aligned itself with the ideology 
of N17 and may have incorporated some previous members of 
N17.  RS was believed responsible for ten violent terrorist 
attacks since 2003, including the 2004 murder of a Greek 
guard outside the British Defense Attache's residence and an 
unsuccessful 2006 bombing targeting the vehicle of the Greek 
Minister of Culture (formerly the Greek Minister of Public 
Order).  The Minister was not injured in the attack.  RS 
claimed responsibility for the rocket propelled grenade 
attack against the U.S. Embassy on January 12, 2007.  The 
attack took place before normal working hours and no Embassy 
personnel were injured.  The Hellenic Police and the Embassy 
continued to work together on the investigation.  No arrests 
have yet been made.  RS also was suspected of placing a 
powerful bomb outside the Athens headquarters of the oil 
company Shell on October 24, 2008.  Police safely detonated 
the device after receiving an anonymous tip. 
 
Throughout the year, self-styled "anarchists" attacked banks, 
police stations, and other "imperialist-capitalist targets" 
with tools such as firebombs and Molotov cocktails.  Since 
these attacks usually occurred at night, few persons were 
seriously injured and there were no deaths.  Several U.S. 
businesses were targeted.  Police officials pursued a more 
proactive approach to deterring these attacks and arrested 
perpetrators.  In December 2008, rioting broke out following 
the death of a young student at the hands of the police.  In 
the ensuing days, anarchists and students attacked and 
destroyed police stations and businesses.  No damage to the 
Embassy or injuries to personnel were noted in 2008. 
 
End report. 
 
SPECKHARD