The Greek extremist group, November 17, today claimed responsibility for the assassination of a British defence attaché, who was shot while driving to work in Athens yesterday. The group said that they had killed Brigadier Stephen Saunders because of his role in the Kosovo crisis. Britain has denied Saunders had any special part in the NATO campaign and detectives from Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist squad have arrived in Athens to help Greek authorities to investigate the assassination. Britain is also reviewing security at its embassies worldwide after the assassination.
November 17 also accused the Greek government of playing an active role in the NATO attacks in the Serbian province, despite Greece's traditional friendship with Serbia, a fellow Orthodox nation. The group is named after the day in 1973, when the colonels then ruling Greece sent tanks and soldiers to smash a student uprising at Athens Polytechnic University.
The killing highlights Greece's anti-terrorism record; Greek police have failed to catch a single November 17 guerrilla in 25 years. American officials said that the killing shows Greece needs to take a tougher stance against terrorism. The Greek Foreign Minister, Georges Papandreaou, outlined the difficulties in countering November 17, which has killed 23 Greeks and Americans since it first appeared in 1975. “It seems that it is a very small group, very few people and this has allowed them to conduct their activities in absolute secrecy,” he said.
