Police foil attack on leaders of Union of Greek Shipowners

Police said evidence in the possession of the suspect indicated the attacks had been planned for 4 October. The arrested, unidentified man aged between 25 and 30 is a suspected accomplice of the leader of left wing Revolutionary Struggle group, Nikos Maziotis who is in jail having been arrested after a shoot out in the Athens tourist section of Plaka.

The offices of ruling New Democracy party, which celebrates its 40th anniversary on 4 October, was also said to be among the likely targets.

Greek police chief Dimitris Tsaknakis announced the arrest, at a press conference delivered jointly with Public Order minister Vassilis Kikilias 2 October. The suspect was to be charged with membership of a terrorist organisation.

The suspect had with him a notebook with the names and addresses of prominent businessmen – notably Marinakis, who is also chairman of Piraeus' Olympiakos soccer team, Fessas – as well as the telephone number of the UGS and its president Theodore Veniamis. The notebook also contained references to New Democracy and the firms Capital, Germany's Siemens and IT company Infoquest. The notes suggested that the offices of Capital and Infoquest would be staked out on 1 – 2 October and rehearsal for the hit would be carried out on 3 October with the actual attack on 4 October .

Undercover officers had been observing the suspect for several days and finally arrested him late on 1 October outside a garage in the Athens neighborhood of Vyronas, Tsaknakis said. The arrest was carried out in the context of the ongoing search for Maziotis' wife Panagiota Roupa, he added.

Maziotis was arrested last July in a shootout in central Athens after nearly two years on the run.

A search on the garage turned up the roof rack and keys of the stolen Nissan that was used in a car bomb outside the Bank of Greece last April and subsequently claimed by Revolutionary Struggle. The suspect's contract for the rental of the garage bore Maziotis's fingerprints, said Kikilias.

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