Explosion outside MP’s office

An anarchist group that first became known to authorities six months ago claimed responsibility on Saturday for detonating a homemade device outside the office of a PASOK MP in central Athens. The device, made up of two cooking gas canisters, exploded at 3.30 p.m. outside an apartment block on Patission Street, police said. Socialist deputy Costas Gitonas has his office on the fourth floor of the building. Nobody was injured in the incident but the entrance to the block was damaged. Soon afterward, an unidentified caller claiming to be from the group Revolutionary Liberation Action rang Skai Radio and said the organization had planted the device. The group first came to prominence in January when it claimed responsibility for three similar attacks in one night. Nobody was injured in those attacks either. The caller said that Saturday’s attack was carried out in memory of Christoforos Marinos, a prominent anarchist who was found dead in July 1996 when Gitonas was public order minister.