Greece: Policeman shot dead guarding diplomat's house
A Greek police officer was shot dead as he guarded a British diplomat’s house in a suburb of Athens.
Police said the shooting happened outside the house of the British defence attache in the northern suburb of Kifissia overnight. No one else was injured.
Haralambos Amanatidis, 32, was shot at least eight times and his sub-machine gun taken, authorities said. Police officers guarding the homes of diplomats are usually are armed with automatic weapons. The exact circumstances of the shooting remained unclear.
“He was found dead at his guard post. He has been shot eight to nine times and his service weapon was taken. It is too early to say anything more,” Athens police director Vasilis Tsiatouras said at the scene.
It remained unclear what type of weapon was used.
There have been no attacks against foreign diplomats or officials in Greece since June 2000, when the November 17 terrorist group shot dead British defence attache Brig Stephen Saunders as he drove to work from Kifissia to central Athens.
Police broke up November 17 in the summer of 2003 and arrested 15 of its members, including its leader. All are serving long prison terms in a specially-built wing of a maximum security prison near Athens.
November 17 was blamed for 23 killings and dozens of bomb and rocket attacks since 1975. Its victims included diplomats and military officials from Britain, Turkey and the United States.
Following a blend of Marxist and nationalist ideologies, November 17 was named after the date of a student-led uprising in 1973 which helped topple the 1967-74 Greek military dictatorship.
