German police disarmed a potentially harmful package from Greece at German Chancellor Angela Merkel's office Tuesday, hours after similar small mail bombs exploded outside the Russian and Swiss embassies in Athens in attacks blamed on Greek far-left extremists.
Meanwhile, Police in Greece say they have destroyed two suspicious packages at Athens International Airport. The latest controlled detonations late Tuesday occurred in the airport's cargo area and did not affect flights.
Authorities did not immediately confirm a report by Greek state television that the two destroyed packages were bound for The Netherlands and Luxembourg. Since Monday, authorities in Greece have uncovered more than 10 explosive devices sent by mail.
Late Tuesday, Greek police said a suspicious package addressed to Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi and found on board a private mail courier company plane is being examined at Bologna airport.
Police outside Merkel's office (Photo: Reuters)
Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said the suspicious package intercepted in the mailroom of her office was personally addressed to the German chancellor and "would have been able to harm people."
German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said the package, which arrived midday at the mailroom of the Chancellor Angela Merkel's office, was sent from Greece two days ago and resembled a series of small mail bombs in Athens.
De Maiziere said that not only did the package have a Greek return address, but also authorities had been able to trace that it had been sent from Greece two days ago.
"It contained an explosive device," de Maiziere told reporters.
"Based on everything that we know, it was built in the same way and visually resembled the package that exploded at the Swiss embassy in Athens," he said.
New questions about cargo security
No group claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attacks, which caused no injuries. No warning was given, and no link has been made with the recently discovered Yemen-based mail bomb plot, which used much more powerful devices.
Merkel was in Belgium when the package arrived in the mailroom of her office. Seibert said it showed "marks that indicated the possibility of explosives" and police were immediately alerted.
The development raised new questions about the security of cargo and parcels. People in the transportation industry said Tuesday that there are few security checks on packages transported within the European Union by road or rail.
"Once they're in Europe, the goods are free to move around," said Robert Windsor, manager of trade services at the British International Freight Association.
First published: 21:47, 11.02.10