Greece Suspends Outgoing Airmail After Wave of Bombs

Greece has been screening thousands of parcels after halting all outgoing mail deliveries abroad following a spate of parcel bombs that have targeted embassies, European leaders and various institutions abroad, reports the UK Press Association.

The 48-hour ban was imposed after mail bombs reached the office of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and halted flights for hours at an Italian airport where a package addressed to Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi caught fire.

Police are questioning two suspects arrested on Monday in connection with the bombings and released the photographs of five other suspects believed to be associated with them. Most are in their early 20s.

The suspects have been linked to an anarchist militant group called Conspiracy Nuclei of Fire.

At least 11 mail bombs were discovered in Athens on Monday and Tuesday — one addressed to French president Nicolas Sarkozy and eight to the Athens embassies of Bulgaria, Russia, Germany, Switzerland, Mexico, Chile, the Netherlands and Belgium.

Three of the bombs exploded or caught fire in Athens, causing minor damage and leaving one delivery service employee burned.

Police said none of the devices contained lethal amounts of explosives. But the attacks highlighted the difficulty of keeping bombs out of the international delivery system — also a target of Yemen-based militants armed with more powerful and potentially deadly explosives.

Greece has suffered a rise in militant attacks — including a deadly letter bombing earlier this year — since massive riots in 2008 triggered by a police shooting of a teenage boy.

Prime Minister George Papandreou said the government would be “unyielding” in its pursuit of bombers.