GREECE: SHOOTING OF BRITISH MILITARY ATTACHE IN GREECE BELIEVED TO BE THE WORK OF TERROR GROUP 'NOVEMBER 17'
Record ID:
324516
GREECE: SHOOTING OF BRITISH MILITARY ATTACHE IN GREECE BELIEVED TO BE THE WORK OF TERROR GROUP 'NOVEMBER 17'
- Title: GREECE: SHOOTING OF BRITISH MILITARY ATTACHE IN GREECE BELIEVED TO BE THE WORK OF TERROR GROUP 'NOVEMBER 17'
- Date: 8th June 2000
- Summary: ATHENS, GREECE (JUNE 8, 2000) (REUTERS) 1. VARIOUS VIEWS OF CAR OF DEAD BRITISH MILITARY ATTACHE BRIGADIER STEPHEN SAUNDERS; SHATTERED GLASS, BLOODSTAINS (6 SHOTS) 0.38 2. EXT EXTERIOR OF RED CROSS HOSPITAL WHERE SAUNDERS WAS TAKEN/ POLICE (2 SHOTS) 0.48 3. MV BARONESS SYMONS, BRITISH MINISTER OF ARMS PROCUREMENT ENTERING HOSPITAL/ AMBULANCES/ POLICE (3 SHOTS) 1.14 4. SV (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) VICE PRESIDENT OF RED CROSS HOSPITAL CHRISTOS ATINOPOULOS: "The military attache of the British Embassy, Stephen Saunders, unfortunately, despite our great efforts, has died." 1.24 5. VARIOUS OF HOSPITAL, PATIENTS AND PERSONNEL AROUND HOSPITAL (5 SHOTS) 1.57 6. SV SOUNDBITE (Greek) PUBLIC ORDER MINISTER MICHALIS CHRISOCHOIDIS: "This event stigmatises all Greeks, and besides the unfair loss of this victim, they (the attackers) are trying to harm the country's interests." 2.15 7. SLV VARIOUS OF POLICE AROUND HOSPITAL 2.22 8. BRITISH AMBASSADOR DAVID MADDEN STANDING WITH SYMONS 2.26 9. SV SOUNDBITE (English) MADDEN, TALKING ABOUT HIS REACTION: "It was one of shock, horror and disbelief. Stephen was so valued, and a lively member of the embassy, as we've just said. We were having a most pleasant dinner yesterday evening with the deputy defence minister of Greece, a very pleasant occasion. I am sorry, emphasising the excellent relationship between the United Kingdom and Greece, to be told the next morning with initial reports of considerable uncertainty coming in at first, what exactly had happened, that Stephen had been shot and was in hospital in the operating theatre." 3.04 10. SV SOUNDBITE (English) SYMONS: "It's a tragedy that such a good man has had his life cut short and that a woman has lost a husband and the children have lost a father. "We are all deeply sorry about what has happened and send our condolences to the family." 3.27 11. CU PHOTOGRAPH OF STEPHEN SAUNDERS (MUTE) (2 SHOTS) 3.39 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 23rd June 2000 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: ATHENS, GREECE
- Country: Greece
- Reuters ID: LVADMROLICXX0GUIL8VBUV8RZ9N8
- Story Text: The shooting of a British military attache in Greece,
believed by the Greek government to be the work of terror
group November 17, has shocked the nation.
Britain's top defence diplomat in Athens was
assassinated as he drove to work on Thursday (June 8), and
police said the attack bore the hallmarks of the November 17
urban guerrilla group.
The killing of 52-year-old Brigadier Stephen Saunders,
married and the father of two teenage girls, triggered outrage
in Greece and abroad.
Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis, who government has
come under attack from its Western allies for not doing enough
to combat terrorism, telephoned his British counterpart Tony
Blair and expressed his horror.
He said in a statement that the Greek government would do
all it could to ensure citizens' safety.
Britains Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said he was appalled
and deeply saddened by his death, while NATO Secretary General
George Robertson interrupted a NATO meeting in Brussels to
announce Saunders death.
The British defence attache was shot several times and
suffered wounds in the abdomen and hands. Doctors said he had
severe bleeding and that his vital organs failed.
Two assailants on a motorcycle stopped in the middle of
the busy Kiffisias avenue in the northern suburb of Halandri
and fired several times at the driver through the
passenger-side
window of his white Rover car.
The car had normal Greek licence plates and no diplomatic
insignia, a safety precaution taken by most Western embassies
in Athens, police said.
Police launched a manhunt, setting up roadblocks all over
the capital and sending out scores of plainclothes officers to
search for the attackers.
Thursdays attack also triggered criticism at home.
Conservative New Democracy opposition party deputy Dora
Bakoyannis, whose husband was shot dead by the November 17
group in 1989 said the Greek police were powerless to deal
with the guerillas.
Police said ballistic tests showed the gun used to kill
Saunders was the same used by November 17 in previous attacks.
November 17 is named after the day in 1973 when the
military junta ruling Greece stormed the Athens Polytechnic to
crush a student uprising killing at least 34 students and
injuring 800.
Saunders would be their 23rd victim, a role call which
includes American diplomatic and military personnel, Greek
politicians and industrialists, and Turkish diplomats.
The group emerged in 1975 with the killing of Richard
Welch, a CIA station chief in Athens.
Its communiques show it is anti-capitalist, opposes Greek
membership of the EU and NATO and is bitterly hostile to
Turkey and the United States, mainly because of the stalemate
over Cyprus.
Greek police have failed to capture, kill or injure a
single member of November 17, and the large rewards offered
for information leading to an arrest have led nowhere.
The police appear to have no idea who masterminds its
operations, how many members are involved or what its real
objective is.
In its last attack in May 1999, November 17 launched a
rocket against the residence of the German ambassador in
Athens but no one was injured.
Greeces western allies have criticised the governments'
complete failure to capture or penetrate the group, and the
U.S. Congresss National Commission on Terrorism earlier this
month said in a report that Greece was not fully cooperating
in the battle against terrorism.
Saunders was a career soldier who served in Asia, Europe
and the Middle East. He joined the army in 1965. He served in
Germany, Northern Ireland and Cyprus. He had also worked in
Kuwait, Hong Kong and Zimbabwe in a number of positions.
He was promoted to brigadier last year and appointed
defence attache to the British Embassy in Athens.
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