Athens Bombs Raise New Worries Over Olympics

[DC09]

ATHENS (Reuters) - Just 100 days before the start of the Athens Olympics, three bombs exploded Wednesday outside a police station in the Greek capital raising new security concerns about the world's biggest sporting event.

The Greek government was quick to play down the blasts, saying there was no evidence to link the explosions with the games and pointed the finger at home-grown extremists.

"This is an isolated incident which does not affect whatsoever the Olympic preparation of the country," Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis told reporters.

Britain and France gave Greek Olympics organizers a vote of confidence, but Olympic powerhouse Australia ordered a review of its security arrangements. Athens police, the apparent target of the attacks, also said there was cause for concern.

"Those who planted the bombs did not want to just make themselves heard, they wanted to harm people," local police chief George Angellakos told reporters.

Security forces have been on high alert amid fears that the Games, the first summer Olympics since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, could be targeted by militants.

Britain, France and Australia are all part of a first-ever international Olympic security advisory group which includes Germany, the United States, Spain and Israel, and has been set up to provide help in planning, training and intelligence.

Full Article

[mickyboy]

this really scares me, any terrorist attack is truly horrendous, whats really scary is that these are the measures they have to resort to, to make a point, its shameful, how do these people sleep at night? i just hope that this sort of thing doesnt occur much more and the intelligence services can put a stop to this sort of thing before it reaches the sad conclusion it has