VZCZCXRO7667
OO RUEHAG RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSL
DE RUEHTH #1519/01 2730726
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O R 300726Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY ATHENS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0760
INFO EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 ATHENS 001519 
 
SIPDIS 
AMEMBASSY ANKARA PASS TO AMCONSUL ADANA 
AMEMBASSY ASTANA PASS TO USOFFICE ALMATY 
AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF 
AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL LEIPZIG 
AMEMBASSY BELGRADE PASS TO AMEMBASSY PODGORICA 
AMEMBASSY HELSINKI PASS TO AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG 
AMEMBASSY ATHENS PASS TO AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI 
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/09/30 
TAGS: PTER PREL ASEC ABLD GR
SUBJECT: GREECE ARRESTS SUSPECTED MEMBERS OF DOMESTIC TERRORIST GROUP 
 
REF: ATHENS 1507 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Daniel V. Speckhard, Ambassador; REASON: 1.4(B), (D) 
 
Summary 
 
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¶1. (SBU) In the most high-profile arrests of domestic terrorist 
suspects since 2003, Greek police raided two houses in the Athens 
districts of Halandri and Galatsi on September 23, and arrested 
four individuals who were subsequently charged September 25, in 
connection with three bombings carried out by the "Conspiracy of 
Fire Nuclei" from June to September of this year.  Police said they 
found a complete "cooking pot" bomb (the group's MO in previous 
attacks) and other bomb-making equipment at the sites.  Citing 
police sources, Greek media is speculating that the suspects may 
lead police to other terrorist groups responsible for bigger 
attacks, including the large ammonium nitrate bomb that exploded 
outside Athens Stock Exchange September 2 (within minutes of one of 
the Fire Nuclei bombings) and the January 2007 RPG attack on the 
U.S. Embassy, both of which were claimed by Revolutionary Struggle. 
End Summary. 
 
 
 
The Facts 
 
-------- 
 
¶2. (S) In a conversation with the Ambassador on September 24, 2009, 
Greek Ministry of Interior Secretary General Constantinos Bitsios 
said the suspects, all in their early twenties,  were associated 
with the Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei and were swept up after Greek 
police identified their Halandri apartment as a place of interest. 
Inside, police found bombs and associated materials identical to 
those used in previous attacks by the group.  Bitsios praised the 
low-key cooperation the Greek government has received from U.S. and 
UK experts, and said the government looked forward to further 
cooperation. 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) Four of the individuals arrested, Panagiotis Massouras, 
Charilaos Hatzimichelakis, Emmanouil Giospas, and Myrto 
Pentaeloglou, were charged September 25, 2009, with a variety of 
counts connected to three similar bombings: the July 12, 2009, 
bombing at the home of former Deputy Public Order Minister 
Panagiotis Hinofotis, the September 2, 2009, bombing at the 
Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace in Thessaloniki (which occurred 
within minutes of the big blast at the Athens Stock Exchange), and 
a September 23, 2009, bombing outside the apartment of opposition 
PASOK party economy spokesperson Louka Katseli and her husband 
Gerassimos Arsenis, who served in five different ministerial 
positions in previous PASOK governments.  No one was hurt in these 
attacks.  The Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei are also believed to be 
responsible for a large number of other, small-scale attacks, and 
have long been seen as a particularly violent outgrowth of Greece's 
urban "anarchist" community.  Police announced that they are 
seeking the arrest of six other individuals, five Greeks and one 
Albanian, in the case. 
 
 
 
Comment 
 
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¶4. (C) Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei is not the biggest fish in 
Greece's domestic terrorist scene, but if the evidence is as strong 
as Bitsios has told us the arrests are a major achievement for a 
government that had not managed to lock up a single member of a 
named terrorist group since 2003.  Greek officials have been making 
a concerted effort to crack the terrorist and extremist groups ever 
since the December 2008 riots and the subsequent increase in 
domestic terrorist attacks, when Bitsios came over from the Prime 
Minister's office to the Ministry of Interior.  In addition to 
energizing the investigations, the government has also enacted 
legislative reforms this year to authorize greater use of 
surveillance cameras, phone taps, and the creation of a DNA 
database.  These tools should benefit whatever government comes to 
power after the October 4 elections in pursuing domestic 
terrorists. 
 
 
 
¶5. (C) There is extensive reporting in the Greek media suggesting 
police believe this investigation will open leads that will allow 
them to reach the more prominent and violent domestic terrorist 
groups, Revolutionary Struggle and Sect of Revolutionaries. 
According to these reports, police believe some of the individuals 
arrested served as liaisons to other groups.  While it is common 
belief that domestic terrorist groups know and coordinate with each 
other - and the almost simultaneous timing of the two September 2, 
2009, bombings suggests coordination - we do not yet know if police 
will be able to make these links in this case.  MEGA-TV reported 
September 26, 2009, that police believe one of the arrested 
individuals was involved in the January 2007 RPG attack on the U.S. 
Embassy by Revolutionary Struggle.  However, there is no evidence 
of this at present.  We have long worked with Greek law enforcement 
to try to obtain a breakthrough in this case, and we will 
coordinate closely to see what evidence connected to these new 
arrests might produce progress on that case. 
McCarthy