Greek group vows attacks on police, other targets

A previously unknown group that has claimed responsibility for a shooting and grenade attack against an Athens police station is vowing to kill police officers and expand its targets to prominent Greeks.

The group, which calls itself Sect of Revolutionaries, issued a statement on a computer disk left on the grave of a teenager whose shooting by police in December sparked Greece's worst riots in decades.

An anonymous caller tipped off the local daily Ta Nea to the disk's location, and the paper published the statement Thursday.

In the statement, the group makes threats but does not seem to express any clear political views, unlike similar texts issued by left-wing extremist groups in Greece.

Police spokesman Panayiotis Stathis said Wednesday the statement appeared to be authentic and authorities were taking it seriously. The group seems to be following the methods of the Revolutionary Struggle extremist group, which shot and seriously wounded a riot policeman last month.

"It seems to be genuine; it's a group that has not appeared before but the methodology seems to be the same as that of Revolutionary Struggle," Stathis said.

Greece had faced a domestic terrorist threat for decades, but authorities cracked down on violent extreme left-wing groups before the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

Although the anti-authoritarian rioting sparked by the teenager's death subsided before Christmas, attacks on police targets have increased.