Greek guerilla group claims responsibility for failed bomb attack

A little-known Greek guerilla group claimed responsibility yesterday for a failed bomb attack on a US bank as debate simmered over whether inviting Nato to protect the Olympic Games made Greece a more prominent target.

Bomb experts destroyed an explosive device placed late on Sunday outside a Citibank branch in an Athens suburb by a group calling itself the "Revolutionary Struggle".

Greece's newly elected conservative government on Friday put in an official request to the alliance for assistance in air and sea patrols during this year's Olympics, hours after a series of bombing attacks in Madrid killed 200 people and injured 1,500.

"The new government did the right thing in inviting Nato, it shows a sense of responsibility," the pro-government Elefteros Typos said.

The daily Ta NEA said the move raised dangers for Greece. "This decision upgrades the country's security arrangements against international terrorism but it also turns Greece into an attractive first-rate target for al-Qaeda," it said.

Despite being a Nato member, Greece has always been sensitive to foreign forces using its territory and decided against taking part in the US-led invasion of Iraq.

It has sent only a small group of non-combat engineers for reconstruction in Afghanistan. Last month it turned down a Nato request to provide helicopters for its forces in Kabul, saying the Games had limited its military spending power.

"The Olympic Games are not just a national event, they are an international issue," Public Order Minister George Voulgarakis told reporters after the decision to call in Nato.

While the request was not linked to the Madrid bombings, the attacks appeared to be the final spur for the government to sweep aside domestic opposition to foreign forces protecting the August 13 to 29 Games.

The Revolutionary Struggle group's only previous claim of responsibility was last September for two bombs in an Athens court complex where one policeman was injured.

Their political aims are not clear but their rhetoric is anti-capitalist.

At the time police officials said the September blast was not a run-of-the-mill "mischief attack" by one of dozens of fringe groups opposing the Games.

"They are sophisticated, the most sophisticated for several years," a police spokesman had said.