Terrorist describes Briton's assassination

The Greek terrorist who has confessed to participating in the killing of the British military attache has described how Brigadier Stephen Saunders was assassinated.

He named the man who pulled the trigger and Greek police are hunting him.

Vassilis Xiros, 30, told police his involvement was limited to driving a van containing the stolen getaway scooter to the scene of the officer’s murder near a busy Athens street in June 2000.

He said his brother Savas, 44, and Loukas - a man identified as Dimitris Koufodinas who is being hunted by police - shot Brig Saunders with .45 pistol as he drove to the British embassy in a Rover car.

Vassilis said: ‘‘I knew my brother Savas talked to Loukas but I didn’t know if they decided together on the targets or others decided for them.

‘‘Savas would have driven the scooter, because Loukas could not drive scooters,’’

‘‘I left them where the Englishman was later killed. I don’t know any other details,’’ he said.

He said Loukas was behind every killing.

Savas, 44, is under arrest in an Athens hospital after being blown up when a bomb went off prematurely in his hands. The ‘own goal’ blast led the the first capture of members of the shadowy November 17 terror gang.

Greek police, aided by Scotland Yard anti-terrorist officers, have arrested 10 suspected members of the left wing gang which has admitted killing 23 people since it emerged with the murder of CIA station chief Richard Welch in 1975.

Christodoulos Xiros, the eldest of three brothers among those being held, told investigators they inspected all potential escape routes in advance.

They used only stolen cars and motorcycles and monitored their victims’ movements in advance.

Members would swap places several times to follow a target so that he did not get suspicious.

He said Loukas was involved in the planning of every attack.

The confessions were leaked to the Greek media.