Package containing explosives sent to Merkel’s office

GERMAN police disarmed a potentially harmful package from Greece at German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office yesterday, hours after similar small mail bombs exploded outside the Russian and Swiss embassies in Athens in attacks blamed on Greek far-left extremists.

Greek police destroyed at least three more suspected bombs in Athens, and two local men have been charged with mailing bombs.

Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said the suspicious package intercepted in the mailroom of her office was personally addressed to the chancellor and “would have been able to harm people”. Merkel was not in the building at the time as she was in Belgium.

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said the package, which arrived midday at the mailroom of her office, was sent from Greece two days ago and resembled a series of small mail bombs in Athens.

De Maiziere said that not only did the package have a Greek return address, but also authorities had been able to trace that it had been sent from Greece two days ago.

“It contained an explosive device,” de Maiziere told reporters. German Media have reports said the package carried a Greek return address.

“Based on everything that we know, it was built in the same way and visually resembled the package that exploded at the Swiss embassy in Athens,” he said.

No group claimed responsibility for the Greek attacks, which caused no injuries. No warning was given and no link has been made with the recently discovered Yemen-based mail bomb plot, which used much more powerful devices.

Police yesterday named Greek suspects as 22-year-old Panagiotis Argyros and 24-year-old Gerasimos Tsakalos.

Greece has a vocal anarchist political fringe that opposes most forms of state authority – particularly the police and party democracy – as well as capitalism and globalisation.

In recent decades, small radical anarchist or nihilist groups have staged attacks ranging from car burnings to bomb and gunfire attacks on symbols of state power and wealth – including the US embassy in Athens.

The development raised questions about the security of cargo and parcels. People in the transportation industry said that there are few security checks on packages transported within the EU by road or rail.

“Once they’re in Europe, the goods are free to move around,” said Robert Windsor, manager of trade services at the British International Freight Association.

UPS said it was aware of reports it had delivered the suspicious package but could not confirm them.

“We’re working closely with authorities to investigate,” spokesman Norman Black said. UPS transports packages in Europe by both ground and air, he says.

If it turns out that one or more suspect packages has been transported by air, that would be troubling, a British-based aviation security consultant said.

“If they have been flown, then it rather begs the question whether European freight air security is up to muster at all,” said consultant Chris Yates.

Although they caused minimal injuries and damage, the attacks in Greece were an embarrassment to a government.

The wave of attacks began on Monday when a mail bomb addressed to the Mexican embassy exploded at a delivery service in Athens.