Patterns of Global Terrorism 1996 - Greece

The Greek Government continues to make no headway in its pursuit of Greek terrorists, in particular, the Revolutionary Organization 17 November that is responsible for numerous attacks against US interests, including the murder of four US officials. On 15 February an antiarmor rocket was fired at the US Embassy in Athens, causing some property damage but no casualties. Circumstances of the attack suggest it was a 17 November operation. On 28 May the IBM building in Athens was bombed, resulting in substantial property damage but no casualties. An anonymous call later claimed responsibility on behalf of the "Nihilist Faction," which first surfaced earlier in the year with bomb attacks against the residence of a supreme court prosecutor and a shopping mall in downtown Athens.

The Greek Government also continues to tolerate the official presence in Athens of two Turkish terrorist groups – the National Liberation Front of Kurdistan, which is the political wing of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) – formerly Devrimci Sol – which is responsible for the murder of two US Government contractors in Turkey.

The Greek judicial system continues to be hampered by obstacles to the prosecution of terrorists. The latest pending piece of legislation authorizes judges to exclude the testimony of a defendant against a codefendant in a criminal proceeding – including terrorist cases – which would make it difficult to obtain convictions against members of terrorist groups.

Under the terms of another Greek law that allows for release after two-fifths of a sentence has been served, on 5 December the Greek Government released convicted terrorist Mohammed Rashid from prison and expelled him from Greece. Rashid had been in jail for his role in the 1982 bombing of a Pan Am aircraft in which a 15-year old Japanese citizen was killed. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison, which was subsequently reduced to 15 years. The United States deplored the early release of this convicted terrorist, calling the court ruling "incomprehensible."

The Greek Government, however, also demonstrated some willingness to extradite non-Greeks in two high-profile cases: after completing a five-year Greek prison sentence on various charges, Abdul Rahim Khaled was handed over to Italian authorities pursuant to his conviction in absentia in 1987 by an Italian court for his part in the Achille Lauro hijacking; and Andrea Haeusler, a German citizen, faced extradition to Germany on charges stemming from her alleged participation in the bombing of the La Belle discotheque in Berlin. (She was extradicted in January 1997.)