Greece: Suspect package returned, destroyed

ATHENS, Greece -- Bomb disposal experts destroyed a suspicious package returned by the French embassy Thursday to a delivery service in central Athens, following a spate of mail bombings that targeted embassies and European leaders.

Police said the latest package contained a small amount of explosives and was destroyed by controlled explosion. They said an erroneous return address on the package was for the Greek Orthodox Church.

In Paris, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero confirmed the suspect package was returned by the embassy in Athens.

Valero said the "conditions" by which it reached the embassy appeared suspicious but did not elaborate.

Police were also inspecting packages Thursday at a private delivery company's sorting office outside Athens.
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The latest incidents occurred despite a large-scale operation involving police, the post office and private mail companies to re-examine thousands of parcels. A 48-hour ban on all outgoing airmail packages from Greece remained in effect.

Two suspected members of a Greek militant group were arrested Monday in connection with attacks Monday and Tuesday involving 13 mail bombs, including one package that reached the office of German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.

One suspect was arrested carrying a booby-trapped package addressed to French President Nicholas Sarkozy. A mail bomb addressed to Italian Prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was intercepted and destroyed at an airport in Italy.

The two suspects, aged 22 and 24, were both formally remanded in pretrial prison custody Thursday. They have been charged with membership in a terrorist group and multiple terrorism-related offenses.