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Greek Militants Claim Explosive Parcel Sent to German Finance Ministry | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble. AFP


A Greek far-left group on Thursday claimed it had sent an explosive-filled envelope to the German finance ministry in Berlin.

“We claim responsibility for sending a booby-trapped parcel to the German finance minister,” the Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei group said in a statement posted on an anti-establishment website.

German police on Wednesday said they had discovered the “explosive” package at the mailroom of Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble’s office building.

“The package contained an explosive mix,” Berlin police said in a statement. The substance is often used in the production of fireworks and could have caused serious injury if it had been opened, they added.

German officials refused to confirm whether the envelope had been addressed directly to Schaeuble as was reported by Bild and the BZ newspaper.

Greece’s interior ministry said the authorities in both countries were working together on the case.

A Greek police source confirmed the package had a Greek stamp.

The “sender” was given as Adonis Georgiadis, a deputy leader of the opposition New Democracy party, along with his real address.

“Unfortunately it is true and not funny at all. My targeting by terrorists is continuous,” Georgiadis said in a tweet.

Greek authorities are examining how the package was able to leave the country containing the explosive material.

Schaeuble became extremely unpopular in Greece during the country’s crippling debt crisis as he was seen as unyielding in imposing austerity on Athens in exchange for financial aid.

In 2010, Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei sent letter bombs to foreign embassies in Greece and to three European leaders — then European Commission chairman Jose Manuel Barroso, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and then Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi.

The group is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States.