ATHENS (AFP) -
Assailants on
a motorcycle threw a grenade at the French embassy in Athens Thursday,
slighting wounding a police officer on duty, police said.
Greece's
anti-terrorism police are investigating the attack, which happened at around
5am (0300GMT) on one of the city's main avenues and opposite parliament.
Police are
working on the theory that the attack was staged by local anarchists, who
regularly carry out acts of violence against
diplomatic missions.
Investigators
have also not ruled out a link to the rise of the extreme right in France,
following the congratulatory message by National Front leader Marine Le Pen to
Donald Trump on his US election victory.
Government
spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos condemned the attack, insisting that
"friendly relations between Greece and France cannot be influenced in the
least by such terrorist acts."
The grenade
left a tennis ball-sized hole in the pavement, and shrapnel marks on the
embassy gate and guard post.
"Given
the minor damage, it is likely a symbolic attack," a police source told
AFP.
The officer
added that police are inspecting for possible links a stolen motorcycle found a
few kilometres away from the attack in Exarchia, a district popular with
anarchists.
The injured
police officer was taken to hospital where he received treatment for leg
injuries.
It was not
immediately clear if he was standing outside at the time of the attack, or if
the door of the bullet-proof guardpost had been left open.
AFP
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