#news Greek guerrilla group claims responsibility for parcel bombs case

ATHENS, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Greek guerrilla group "Conspiracy Nuclei of Fire" claimed responsibility Thursday for the string of attacks with parcel bombs against a dozen foreign targets inside and outside Greece earlier November, local media said.

Citing police sources, reports said the group released a statement on a website, calling itself a "revolutionary organization" and threatened more attacks in the future.

Greek police is still investigating the authenticity of the claim.

Booby-trapped packages were sent to foreign embassies in Athens and European leaders and organizations.

Among recipients were French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the European Court of Justice and Europol.

One female employee in a courier company in Athens was the only person injured by the explosion of the first package which was discovered on November 1. Two young Greeks were arrested a few minutes later and were linked to the terrorist group.

"Conspiracy of the Nuclei of Fire will never get caught and dissolved, because it is not just an organization, but an ideology and ideas which cannot get detained," the statement said.

In a reference to widespread anger over the severe economic crisis in Greece and across Europe the group warned of social unrest.

"We are due to witness a period of enormous tensions. Social upheaval is unavoidable. Continuing the way down, Greece will become a theater of major conflicts," said the group, calling on other similar guerrilla organizations worldwide to step up attacks.

"Conspiracy of the Nuclei of Fire" is linked to a series of attacks against police, political and financial targets in Greece over the past two years. It emerged after the fatal shooting of a teenager by a policeman in December 2008 in Athens which sparked the worst riots in Greece in four decades.

As the country sank into a severe debt crisis that threatened the national economy with bankruptcy this spring, triggering a series of austerity measures by the government, guerrilla groups have stepped up attacks.

This summer a police officer was killed during the explosion of a booby-trapped package inside the building of the Ministry of Citizen Protection in Athens. The victim was a close associate of the then Minister Michalis Chrysohoidis who was the target.

Greece faces the challenge of local terrorist groups for decades.

Chrysohoidis was linked to one of the major successes of the struggle against local terrorism before the 2004 Athens Olympic Games-the break up of "November 17", the most dangerous group which had caused dozens of victims in a series of attacks since the 1970s.

Despite the arrests of dozens of suspected members of groups which follow in the steps of "November 17" over the past few years, terrorist organizations are still active in Greece.

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