Greek Terror Crackdown Ahead of Olympics

A T H E N S, Greece, Aug. 11 -- After 25 years of complaints from Washington and other Western capitals, a worried Greek socialist government is redoubling its long efforts to crush a shadowy, seemingly invulnerable terrorist group.

Since Aug. 1, the government has offered a reward of over $4 million for information leading to arrest and conviction of any members of November 17.

That group is blamed for the June 8 murder of a British military attaché, Brigadier Stephen Saunders, who was shot at close range in Athens traffic while on his way to work by two assailants on motorbikes.

The need for total security for the 2004 Athens summer Olympics is concentrating the minds of Greeks on the terrorist threat as never before.

During a July visit to Greece to check preparations, the International Olympics Committee is believed to have stressed the issue in private meetings.

News of security sweeps for the September Olympics in Sydney, Australia, reached Greece in the media and in hundreds of daily phone calls to relatives from close to three million overseas Greeks living down under.

Commentators here argue that terrorism in other Olympic host or aspirant states, such as Spain and Russia, have killed far more people than Greece’s notorious November 17 terrorist group.

Increased Pressure Nevertheless, the government of Prime Minister Costas Simitis has worked and lobbied tirelessly and successfully to bring the Olympics back to its original home, so the2004 summer games are now a crucial issue. The loss of the games would be a severe blow to national pride.

Greece has set up two hotlines enabling callers to phone in information on terrorist activities anonymously. Judges and police are to be given new anti-terrorist powers, long urged by the United States.

Such powers would give law enforcement the ability to react to terrorist threats more quickly; for example, the ability to expedite search warrants.

A British Embassy staffer said, “It seems the Greeks have woken up. The former public indifference to the terrorism problem seems to be at an end.”