Posted on 11/08/2001 1:04:52 PM PST by a_Turk
ATHENS, Nov. 7 — Tensions between Greece and the United States increased this week after a former American ambassador to Athens asserted that there were links between the country's ruling political elite and the Revolutionary Organization 17 November, a terrorist group held responsible for a series of assassinations of Americans and others in recent years.
Thomas Niles, who served as ambassador here from 1993-97, appeared on a local television current affairs program Tuesday night. He said he had given the Greek authorities a list of potential suspects linked to 17 November, a group that surfaced in 1975 and whose activities routinely include assassinations and anti-American proclamations.
"In 1995, we explained to the Greek government who we thought was writing its declarations," Mr. Niles said. The suspect, he added, was "not a member of the government at that time" — the Socialist cabinet led at that time by the late Andreas Papandreou. "There was no follow-up" from the Greeks, Mr. Niles said.
A government spokesman, Christos Protopappas, reacted swiftly today, saying that Mr. Niles was a "liar" and called his allegations "tales and fictional scenarios."
Named after the date of a bloody student uprising in 1973, 17 November first burst into the public eye with the 1975 killing of the head of the Central Intelligence Agency post in Athens, Richard Welch. The killing was seen as revenge for what Greek leftists saw as Washington's support of the military dictatorship that ruled between 1967 and 1974.
Since then, the terrorists have killed 22 more people, Greeks and foreigners, with most of the foreigners Americans. Not a single related arrest has been made.
"There is something, some element in the system that does not want this to happen," Mr. Niles said.
He ruled out, however, that the present administration of Prime Minister Costas Simitis had any contact with members of 17 November, which Mr. Niles characterized as a Marxist-Leninist group with sympathizers including "prominent members of Greek society."
Mr. Niles, who works for the United States Council for International Business in Washington, spoke during a visit to Athens. Reached by telephone in Geneva, he declined to elaborate.
The contentious 1995 report to which he referred was not the first attempt by Washington to prod Athens into investigating potential terror suspects, according to American intelligence officials.
In 1981, the then Greek Intelligence Services drafted a list of potential terror suspects that the intelligence officials said was compiled with the assistance of C.I.A. agents operating in the country at the time.
Requests to investigate the named individuals were knocked down by the Socialist Pasok party that rose to power later that year, according to the intelligence officials. The Greek government insists it has never received any such lists.
Mr. Niles was not the first former American official to comment on Greece's record on fighting terrorism, a subject that has become more acute since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, and has heightened security concerns about the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
James Woolsey, the former C.I.A. director, and L. Paul Bremmer, a former diplomat who headed a Congressional inquiry into fighting terrorism, suggested in 1999 that Greece be put on the list of countries facing sanctions for failing to cooperate with the United States.
Yeah let's waste our energy on some third rate terrorist group that is acting only within Greek borders, instead of looking for real terrorist bases and supporters in Bosnia, Kosovo, Saudi Arabia, Turkey ect..
Gloating, aren't we?We've been screaming this for years.
We all expect another good fight here. ;)
Ping*Oh no Shermy, you didn't :) Do I have to take them all on by myself?
We all expect another good fight here. ;)
Wow, 22 people in 30 years, I am sure that Al Quaida admires these guys for their efficency. After all, how does that compare to killing 6000 people in 15 minutes!
Message to the US government:
1. Orthodox Christians are your friends. (repeat that 15 times) 2. Get serious and get some real terrorists!
And where did you get that that Greeks are friends of Arabs? Though I am sure they don't have anything against them per se..
Yeah let's waste our energy on some third rate terrorist group...NO! Let's be thorough and get them all, large and small!
How many victims did Tansu Ciller's gang kill?
And in the future, I'm adding Leonora to ACTO ping list. ;) (ACTO=Aegean/Cyprus Theater of Operations)
Bastards.
Duh, November 17 is tied to the political structure of Greece. The Communists and Socialists are in power.
Take a look at Turley's rulers and the company they keep. The difference between Turkey's govt linked criminals and Greece's is that the Greek criminals are better drivers.
AMBITION FOR ALL SEASONS: TANSU CILLER* By Ustun Reinart
Editor's Summary: Tansu Ciller, leader of the True Path party, is one of Turkey's most powerful politicians. As Turkey prepares for its coming elections, she is a key powerbroker for forming the next government. Yet she has constantly walked the edge of disaster, through both her political decisions and personal choices.
In the fall of 1996, when a Turkish mafia leader, a police chief and a politician from Ciller's party were found to have been travelling together in the same car after a traffic accident, one of Ciller's close associates, Internal Affairs minister Mehmet Agar, had to resign because of his ties to organized crime and to right-wing death squad killings.
The US and Greece signed a new wide-ranging military agreement on the use of Greek territory and facilities by the US government a few months ago. Greece is a fundamental part of the US effort to pin down the Balkans. There may be a few slaps behind the scenes, but nothing much more as real pressure could backfire on the US, i.e. the Greeks might get as annoyed as Turkey does every time a Western country mentions the Armenian Genocide...
VRN
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