Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09ATHENS282
2009-03-05 14:15:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Athens
Cable title:
GREEK ANARCHISTS BURN ATHENS TRAIN
how-toVZCZCXRO0737 OO RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG DE RUEHTH #0282 0641415 ZNR UUUUU ZZH O 051415Z MAR 09 FM AMEMBASSY ATHENS TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3327 INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS ATHENS 000282
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER ASEC ABLD PGOV GR
SUBJECT: GREEK ANARCHISTS BURN ATHENS TRAIN
REF: A. ATHENS 248
B. ATHENS 215
C. ATHENS 165
D. ATHENS 54
UNCLAS ATHENS 000282
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER ASEC ABLD PGOV GR
SUBJECT: GREEK ANARCHISTS BURN ATHENS TRAIN
REF: A. ATHENS 248
B. ATHENS 215
C. ATHENS 165
D. ATHENS 54
1. (SBU) At about 0100 local time March 3, a group of 15 to
20 young people ejected the driver and passengers from a
train at the commuter station in the northern Athens suburb
of Kifissia and then set fire to the train with Molotov
cocktails. Eight train cars were completely destroyed. All
of the perpetrators, who were wearing hoods and masks for the
Greek carnival season, managed to escape in cars and
motorcycles. The station -- the northern terminus of the
Athens-Piraeus Electric Railway -- suffered considerable
damage and had to be closed. No one was injured.
2. (SBU) In a proclamation published on an anarchist website,
the Gangs of Conscience - Perama Extremists claimed
responsibility for the attack and expressed hope that it
would remove the "fish-like gaze of apathy and disinterest"
from all those "who surrender to sterile movement from and to
their jobs, from and to their homes, and to their
entertainment." The group had previously claimed
responsibility for several arson and firebomb attacks in
2008. In an apparently separate claim of responsibility, the
newspaper Eleftherotypia reported that a caller claimed the
Kifissia attack was carried out by Revolutionary Nuclei, an
older Greek terrorist group that has not been especially
visible in recent years.
3. (SBU) Comment: Anarchist arson and vandalism are
well-established traditions in Greece, but this attack comes
on the heels of a number of increasingly serious domestic
terrorist incidents and is remarkable for the extent of the
destruction and its location in the suburbs, far from the
usual anarchist battlegrounds downtown. The targets of
recent attacks include police, journalists, and other symbols
of the state and the capitalist system (reftels). Yet
another such attack occurred at about 0230 local time March
4, when arsonists broke the glass facade of a Piraeus Bank
branch in the Neo Psychiko suburb of Athens, poured gasoline
inside and set it alight with Molotov cocktails, gutting the
first floor of the building.
SPECKHARD
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER ASEC ABLD PGOV GR
SUBJECT: GREEK ANARCHISTS BURN ATHENS TRAIN
REF: A. ATHENS 248
B. ATHENS 215
C. ATHENS 165
D. ATHENS 54
1. (SBU) At about 0100 local time March 3, a group of 15 to
20 young people ejected the driver and passengers from a
train at the commuter station in the northern Athens suburb
of Kifissia and then set fire to the train with Molotov
cocktails. Eight train cars were completely destroyed. All
of the perpetrators, who were wearing hoods and masks for the
Greek carnival season, managed to escape in cars and
motorcycles. The station -- the northern terminus of the
Athens-Piraeus Electric Railway -- suffered considerable
damage and had to be closed. No one was injured.
2. (SBU) In a proclamation published on an anarchist website,
the Gangs of Conscience - Perama Extremists claimed
responsibility for the attack and expressed hope that it
would remove the "fish-like gaze of apathy and disinterest"
from all those "who surrender to sterile movement from and to
their jobs, from and to their homes, and to their
entertainment." The group had previously claimed
responsibility for several arson and firebomb attacks in
2008. In an apparently separate claim of responsibility, the
newspaper Eleftherotypia reported that a caller claimed the
Kifissia attack was carried out by Revolutionary Nuclei, an
older Greek terrorist group that has not been especially
visible in recent years.
3. (SBU) Comment: Anarchist arson and vandalism are
well-established traditions in Greece, but this attack comes
on the heels of a number of increasingly serious domestic
terrorist incidents and is remarkable for the extent of the
destruction and its location in the suburbs, far from the
usual anarchist battlegrounds downtown. The targets of
recent attacks include police, journalists, and other symbols
of the state and the capitalist system (reftels). Yet
another such attack occurred at about 0230 local time March
4, when arsonists broke the glass facade of a Piraeus Bank
branch in the Neo Psychiko suburb of Athens, poured gasoline
inside and set it alight with Molotov cocktails, gutting the
first floor of the building.
SPECKHARD