Authorities urge calm in Athens bus crisis aftermath

The Greek government appealed for calm today, fearing a public backlash against immigrants following the bungled bus hijacking by two Albanian gunmen.

The 18 hour stand-off near Athens ended peacefully after police successfully negotiated the gradual release of 23 hostages.

The gunmen, Gaz Resuli and Leonard Murati, 24-year-old Albanian immigrants who surrendered shortly after midnight, had demanded €1m and safe passage out the country.

“The fact that two immigrants were the perpetrators of this incident should in no way influence our attitudes or behaviour,” Public Order Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis said. ”We are an open and democratic society that makes no distinctions and shuts no one out.”

About one million immigrants live in Greece, many from neighbouring Albania.

Relations between the two neighbours have often become tense because of contrasting perceptions of Albanian criminality in Greece and racism facing immigrants living here.

The hijacked bus was on a route from the town of Marathon to the Greek capital.

It was hijacked at a bus stop but the gunmen allowed the driver to escape with the ignition keys, instantly turning the hijack into a siege.