Posted on 01/11/2007 9:02:24 PM PST by xzins
Edited on 01/11/2007 10:33:11 PM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
Just announced as breaking news on Fox.
Mod, I'm sure it's not on their website yet.
Update:
Fox News
Explosions Rocks U.S. Embassy in Athens
Associated Press
Friday, January 12, 2007
ATHENS, Greece - Police cordoned off streets around the U.S. Embassy in Athens early Friday after an explosion inside the embassy compound.
Authorities searched nearby apartment buildings and a hospital amid reports that an explosive device may have been fired at the building. The blast smashed glass in the front of the building, near the U.S. emblem of the embassy.
"I heard a loud bang I didn't realize what was going on," said Giorgos Yiannoulis, who runs a kiosk near the embassy.
Excerpted. Story: Explosions Rocks U.S. Embassy in Athens
Thank you Ernest for the link and info.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/01/12/athens.blast/index.html
Thanks Ernest I wonder if wacky Muslums again
What other Freeper said Vegas leading on that betting pool
No one lives on the compound. There is the Embassy compound and immediately behind it a compound that has employee parking, a warehouse, rec building, and a small commissary. The narrow public street separating the two was closed down by the Greeks, thus we have contol over the area. A few years ago, some rockets were fired from a van at the rear compound. Given its downtown location, there is very little than can be done to secure the compound, which is surrounded by apartment and commercial buildings. We were always vulnerable to standoff attacks such as an RPG or snipers. The Ambassador's office had reinforced windows and the drapes/shades were never opened on the street side.
Watching the latest news from the local Fox outlet. Still no word on cause of explosion.
http://www.usembassy.gr/
http://www.usconsulate.gr/
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===
Off Topic (at this time), but fyi.
http://www.usembassy.gr/vi/wardens/Warden010907.PDF
WARDEN MESSAGE
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
January 9, 2007
WARDEN MESSAGE SNIPPET: "The U.S. Embassy wishes to alert American citizens living in or visiting Athens
to a series of protest activities likely to affect the city center on Wednesday,
January 10.
Activist groups have announced that a series of large demonstrations will take place
in central Athens, starting Wednesday morning and continuing into the evening. The
protests involve education and employment issues, and are likely to disrupt traffic
and normal activities around Syntagma Square and the Plaka area for most of the
day. Secondary schools and universities will be closed and students will converge
on the city center to join the protest. Some public services, including public transport,
will be interrupted by strikes lasting several hours. Although most demonstrations in
Greece are orderly and well-controlled by the police, the size and duration of
Wednesday’s event, together with the pattern of violence exhibited by self-styled
anarchists on the fringes of demonstrations, leads the Embassy to recommend that
American residents and visitors consider avoiding the city center, including
Syntagma, Plaka, and the University area on Wednesday.
For the latest security information, Americans living and traveling abroad should
regularly monitor the Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs Internet website
at, http://www.travel.state.gov where the current Worldwide Cautions, Public
Announcements, and Travel Warnings can be found."
That's funny right there, I don't care who you are.
For some reason, reading your post made me sad. Damn crazy people everywhere! I'd rather be MAD than SAD.....more productive!
Thanks for explaining everything.
Good info bump
LOL. That is classic. Thanks for the ping!
Blast Heard in U.S. Embassy in Athens
*******************************************
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Police cordoned off streets around the U.S. Embassy in Athens on Friday after an explosion was heard inside the compound, police said.
Police did not immediately confirm that an explosion had taken place or give any other details.
State-run NET television, quoting eyewitness reports, said an explosion had occurred inside the main embassy building.
There are limits to what you can do to protect personnel. It goes with the job.
http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=347398
"Blast at US embassy compound in Athens"
12th January 2007, 14:31 WST
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "But one witness said the blast hit in the courtyard near the embassy's front entrance.
"The explosion sounded in the courtyard, then a fire broke out over the central entrance, where the emblem is situated," a Greek motorist told private Skai radio."
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Greece's biggest domestic security threat, the leftist November 17 guerrilla group, which had in the past killed US and other foreign diplomats in Greece, was dismantled in 2002."
REUTERS
We seem to have it narrowed down to:
Explosion in building or explosion in compound. (or both)
The slow information flow suggests what?
I am watching CNN International. They have identified what appears to be a hole above the large embassy seal on the front of the building. It sounds like an RPG attack.
Update from Athens: No Injuries in Terror Attack
07:38 Jan 12, '07
(IsraelNN.com) Police cordoned off streets around the American embassy Friday morning after an apparent terrorist attack that caused damage but no injuries, police reported.
The explosion occurred following the firing of a rocket-propelled grenade on the building, according to Voice of Israel government radio.
Budhism Freedom Fighters strike again!!!
Small update:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/01/12/athens.blast/index.html
"Blast hits U.S. Embassy compound in Athens"
POSTED: 1:12 a.m. EST, January 12, 2007
ATHENS, Greece (CNN) --
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The only damage captured by television cameras after the attack was a window blown out on an upper floor."
ARTICLE SNIPPT: "The embassy in Athens was the target of a rocket-propelled grenade attack on February 15, 1996. That attack caused minor damage."
No, hard to find info right now.
Wow. You were prescient on the RPG thing. Good prediction.
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