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American Embassy in Athens Hit by Rocket

The US embassy in Athens has been hit by a rocket in the worst attack against the mission in 10 years.

In the post 9/11 world, far-left terrorism almost seems like a throwback to the 1970s and a less-complicated world where no-one had heard of al-Qaida or dirty bombs. However in Greece, at least, terrorist groups formenting Marxist revolution seem to be alive and well and carrying on the struggle.

In what is thought to be a far-left terror attack, a rocket was fired at the American embassy in the Greek capital Athens on Friday. The rocket, which was launched from across the street, hit the embassy shortly before 6 a.m. local time, shattering windows and waking up local residents. No-one was hurt in the attack.

A far-left group has claimed responsibility. "There (were) one or two anonymous phone calls which claim that the Revolutionary Struggle was behind the attack," Public Order Minister Byron Polydoras told reporters outside the embassy.

The leftist group Revolutionary Struggle has emerged as a serious domestic threat in Greece since the infamous November 17 group was broken up in 2002. It claimed responsibility for an assassination attempt on Greece's Culture Minister last May and a 2005 bombing at the Economics Ministry which wounded two people. Its predecessor, the November 17 group, is thought to have been responsible for another rocket attack on the embassy in 1996.

"I am treating this as a very serious attack," Charles Ries, the US ambassador to Athens, told reporters outside the mission. "The embassy was attacked in a senseless act of violence."

Ries said there had been no warning of the attack. "We're treating it as a very serious attack. We will determine what it is when we know (more)," he said.

Police said in a statement the rocket caused damage to the façade's glass and the ceiling. "This is an act of terrorism. We don't know where from," said local police chief Asimakis Golfis. "There was a shell that exploded in the toilets of the building. It was fired from street level."

Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis met with Ries at the embassy shortly after the shelling. "Such acts have cost us dearly in the past," she told reporters. "The government will do everything in its power so they are not repeated."

American embassies around the world, as highly visible outposts of the US, have often been the subject of terror attacks. The worst attacks to date happened in 1998, when coordinated explosions destroyed the US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, leaving 257 dead and injuring more than 5,000 people.

dgs/ap/reuters