Lapses helped bombers

Probe into attack on Papademos reveals contradictory claims, security shortfalls

As the Greek Police’scounterterrorism department yesterday examined the remains of a letter bomb that detonated in the hands of former premier Lucas Papademos on Thursday, it remained unclear how the letter came into Papademos’s hands while there were indications of security lapses.

One of the two Bank of Greece employees who had been with Papademos when the bomb went off in his car told police yesterday that he had collected the envelope from the offices of the Academy of Athens, of which Papademos is president, and subsequently checked it in the x-ray machine of the central bank, which did not indicate anything suspicious.

Police sources, however, appeared uncertain about the account of the employee, who has been in charge of Papademos’s security detail for several years. One of the reasons for their doubts was the account of another former premier, Antonis Samaras, after he visited Papademos in hospital. Samaras said Papademos told him the envelope had been delivered to his home in Psychico, not to the Academy of Athens.

According to one police source, there were two suspicious envelopes – one delivered to Papademos’s home and one to the Academy of Athens. The source did not determine which of the two envelopes contained the bomb or what became of the other envelope.

A Bank of Greece source indicated yesterday that the envelope given to Papademos had first been passed through the x-ray machine in the Parliament building, but staff at the House rebuffed that claim.

Papademos’s condition was said to have improved yesterday but he remained in the hospital for precautionary reasons. The two BoG employees who were hurt in the blast with him were to be discharged later.

The attack continued to spur condemnation from across the political spectrum, with Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis saying he did not trust the government to crack down on the “new generation of domestic terrorism.”