Cops say link between Italian, Greek anarchists

Police on Tuesday confirmed a link between Italian and Greek anarchists, saying the Italian group that sent parcel bombs to three Rome embassies was responding to an appeal from its Greek counterparts to step up attacks.

The Italian “Informal Anarchist Federation,” which claimed responsibility for sending mail bombs to the Swiss and Chilean embassies last week, also sent a bomb that was discovered at the Greek Embassy on Monday, Carabinieri Col. Maurizio Mezzavilla told The Associated Press.

The Swiss and Chilean bombs exploded Dec. 23, wounding the two people who opened them. The Greek bomb was defused without incident.

In Monday’s claim, first reported in Italian daily Corriere della Sera, the group said it wanted to show solidarity with detained Greek anarchists and further their agenda of “revolutionary violence,” Mezzavilla said.

"We’re striking again, and we do so in response to the appeal launched by our Greek companions of the Conspiracy Nuclei of Fire,” the Italian group wrote in the claim, according to Mezzavilla.

"For this reason we’re sending this new atack to a structure that represents the Greek state and its servants, in solidarity with our companions arrested in Athens and the Conspiracy’s project which, like ours, is based on the action and method of revolutionary violence.” A group called Conspiracy Nuclei of Fire claimed responsibility for having sent 14 mail bombs to foreign embassies in Athens last month, as well as to Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Two of the devices exploded, causing no injuries.

Two Greeks, Panagiotis Argyros, 22 and Gerasimos Tsakalos, 24, were arrested Nov. 1 in connection with the mailings, allegedly carrying small mail bombs, handguns and disguises. They were charged with terrorism-related offenses and are due to go on trial Jan. 17 along with 11 other suspect members of the group.

After the blasts, the Conspiracy Nuclei of Fire called on militants in Greece and other countries to step up their action.