Athens
30
03
2023
TERRORISM

Suspects offered money to target Jewish site

Greek authorities said police were continuing searches in Athens and other parts of the country Wednesday following the arrest of 2 suspects accused of planning an attack at Jewish center in a busy downtown area of the Greek capital.
Greek authorities said police were continuing searches in Athens and other parts of the country Wednesday following the arrest of 2 suspects accused of planning an attack at Jewish center in a busy downtown area of the Greek capital.

The 2 men, described of being of Pakistani origin but not further identified, were charged Tuesday with terrorism offenses, while a third man believed to be in Iran was charged in absentia. Rabbi Mendel Hendel, who runs the Chabad Jewish center, said he learned about the planned attack on the news.

“Thank God we are safe. We’re grateful that this act of terrorism was prevented,” Hendel said in a statement with his wife Nechama e-mailed to the Associated Press. “We would like to publicly thank the Greek authorities.” Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late Tuesday said his country’s intelligence agency Mossad helped Greece prevent the terrorist attack. A statement from his office maintained the attackers were linked to Iran.

Greek authorities are investigating whether other attacks on Jewish sites in Athens were being planned. The arrests were announced ahead of the April 5-13th Jewish holiday of Passover.

Hellenic Public Order Minister Takis Theodorikakos said it was likely the 2 suspects had been offered money to carry out the attack.

“From the evidence we have obtained, the motivation appears to be financial. The organizer they consulted with was a fellow countryman in Iran,” Theodorikakos told private Antenna television. The Jewish Community of Athens sent a letter to the minister thanking the authorities for the arrests.

“A terrorist attack has been prevented against Jewish targets in a busy area of the historic center of Athens,” the community said in a statement.

“Thanks to the methodical work and timely intervention of the security forces, dozens of human lives have been saved.”

The 2 suspects are due to appear before a public prosecutor Friday. The Jewish community in Greece is one of the oldest in Europe. More than 80% of the country’s Jews died in the Holocaust during the Nazi occupation. (AP)

More specifically,the Hellenic Police said Tuesday that in a coordinated operation with the country’s National Intelligence Service (EYP), they had “dismantled a terrorist network that, guided from abroad, was planning attacks against carefully selected targets within Greece.”

The police and EYP were assisted by Israel’s national intelligence agency, Mossad, a statement released Tuesday evening by the office of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Greek police further said they had arrested two individuals, identified by government officials speaking on condition of anonymity to multiple media sources as of Pakistani origin.

A third individual, whom the police called the “brains” of the network, is active abroad.

Data seized on the arrested individuals as well as “digital information” revealed that the two “had already chosen a target of special significance; had cased the location and designed the attack; had received final instructions for carrying out the strike; and had been directed to [recruit] other people for the best possible execution of their mission,” the police statement said.

“The affair that was uncovered today in Greece is a severe case that was successfully thwarted by the Greek security forces. It was an additional attempt by Iran to perpetrate terrorism against Israeli and Jewish targets abroad,” said the statement from Netanyahu’s office.

“After the start of the investigation into the suspects in Greece, Mossad rendered intelligence assistance in unraveling the infrastructure, its work methods and the link to Iran. The investigation revealed that the infrastructure that operated in Greece is part of an extensive Iranian network run from Iran and spanning many countries,” the statement added.

tags: Greece