ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece’s anti-terrorism police have detained a 49-year old teacher over a cache of guns and explosives found in a flat in central Athens this week.
Police on Wednesday found hand-grenades, firearms and more than 12 kg of explosives, including TNT (trinitrotoluene) and ammonium dynamite, in the flat, which had been used for storage.
They were alerted to the discovery by its owner who had been renting it out to the teacher since 2008.
The suspect, who does not appear to have a criminal record, was traced after examination of CCTV footage. He rented the flat under false identification data and had initially said he wanted to use the area to store books, police officials said on condition of anonymity.
He is expected to appear before a prosecutor on Friday.
The discovery of the arms cache comes weeks after a bomb went off as it was being made in an apartment on Oct. 31, an incident the anti-terrorism unit has linked to a revival of anti-establishment guerrilla group activities.
The two cases are probably not linked, a government official said.
Greece has a history of political violence by anarchist and leftist guerrilla groups dating to the 1970s, targeting politicians, police, judges and diplomats.
Attacks increased after the police killing of a teenager in December 2008, in the run-up to the country’s debt crisis, but have eased in recent years.
(Reporting by Yannis Souliotis; Editing by Gareth Jones)
Comments