British official is slain in Greece

The killing raises questions about security for the 2004 Olympics and Greece's inclination to fight terrorism.

By Times wire services

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 9, 2000

ATHENS, Greece -- Thursday morning, just days after a congressional commission warned that the Greek government has not done enough to combat terrorism, Britain's defense attache in Greece was killed by two gunmen on motorcycles who fired into his car on a main Athens thoroughfare.

Greek police said the killing was almost certainly the work of the small left-wing terrorist band that calls itself November 17 -- the same group thought to have killed four U.S. government officials and 18 others in the past quarter-century.

The incident reignited concerns about outbreaks of terrorism when Athens hosts the summer Olympics in 2004. The killing took place not far from the main stadium where the 2004 Games will be held. The location is almost precisely where November 17 killed U.S. Navy Capt. George Tsantes and his driver in 1983.

Brig. Stephen Saunders, 53, whose rank is equivalent to that of a one-star general in the U.S. Army, was driving an embassy car down busy Kifissias Avenue around 8 a.m. when the motorcyclists roared up, shot him and raced away. Police said the .45-caliber bullets came from a gun used in previous November 17 attacks.

Until recently, the Greek government had paid little heed to foreign criticism of its record on terrorism. But after Thursday's attack, Foreign Minister George Papandreou said his government will be "most merciless" in pursuit of November 17. "We will not let the international image of our country be plagued," Papandreou said.

The killing of the senior British diplomat came at a particularly embarrassing time for Papandreou. He had just returned to Athens from London, where he pleaded unsuccessfully for return of ancient marble statues in the British Museum that Britain's Lord Elgin removed from the Parthenon 200 years ago. "We are now in a position to provide full protection for our treasures," Papandreou said.

Greece has repeatedly been criticized for failing to provide protection from November 17 terrorists. In Washington on Monday, the National Commission on Terrorism reported to Congress that Greece "has been disturbingly passive in response to terrorist activities."

The commission noted that "since 1975 there have been 146 terrorist attacks against American interests in Greece. Only one case has been solved, and there is no indication of any meaningful investigation into the remaining cases." The commission recommended that the United States impose sanctions on Greece, a NATO member, until it shows some resolve in cracking down on terrorists.

On Thursday the State Department ruled out sanctions but said it was pressing Greece for more cooperation.

British Foreign Minister Robin Cook said, "I am in touch with the Greek authorities and am offering them our full cooperation in making sure that whoever perpetrated this brutal attack is brought to justice."

November 17 is named for the 1973 date of a student uprising against the military junta that then ruled Greece. Since 1975, when November 17 claimed responsibility for the killing of the senior CIA official in Greece, the group has been blamed for 23 killings, four of them Americans. The United States has to spend more on diplomatic security in Greece than anywhere else in the world, mainly because of November 17, U.S. officials say.

In Greece, though, November 17's crimes have not been a major public concern. The group's overtly leftist and nationalist leanings and its strident anti-Americanism resonate with many residents. As well, most Greeks feel untouched by November 17 violence because it has been largely limited to foreigners and prominent people.

Saunders was on his way to a meeting with a top British Defense Ministry official to discuss Britain's attempts to sell Challenger 2E tanks to Greece. Britain is widely derided in Greece for its close alliance with the United States and its support of NATO attacks last year on Yugoslavia.

U.S. officials speculate that November 17 has fewer than 20 members and uses hired killers for some attacks, making members of the group hard to apprehend.

Privately, U.S. officials have speculated that the Greek government has not cracked down on November 17 because it fears that an investigation could disclose that some members of the ruling socialist party had past ties to members of the terrorist group. In an interview with a weekly Greek newspaper, Pontiki, published Thursday, former CIA Director James Woolsey was quoted as saying: "I believe there are people within the Greek government who know some members of November 17. They are doing nothing."

Stelios Papathemelis, a senior member of the ruling Pasok party and a former minister of public order, was critical of his own political side.

"Greece must show stronger political will," he said Thursday. "What is needed is a consistent and continuous policy against terrorism, which Greece lacks."

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.