Greek group's boast over murder

The white Rover car in which Saunders was attacked

ATHENS, Greece -- The Greek group, November 17, has called the assassination of a British diplomat its "most important" operation in 25 years.

In a statement published by the daily Eleftherotypia newspaper on Wednesday, the group claimed responsibility for killing Stephen Saunders, the defence attache at the British embassy in Athens.

It said Saunders had been deeply involved in the Kosovo war, a campaign which was unpopular in Greece. Saunders was shot while on his way to work in Athens on June 8.

The six-page November 17 statement added: "Brigadier Saunders was the No. 1 at the embassy. He was the most important target we have hit in our 25 years of action."

Britain and Greece condemned the statement and British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook repeated the government stance that Saunders had played no role in the NATO-led bombing campaign.

"I strongly condemn November 17's attempt to justify their brutal murder of Stephen Saunders," he said.

Saunders was the group's 23rd victim since 1975, when CIA station chief Richard Welch became their first victim. Saunders was the group's first British victim. No-one from the group has ever been caught.

It has since allegedly killed three more U.S. citizens and one Greek employee at the U.S. Embassy, a number of Turkish diplomats as well as Greek policemen, business leaders and politicians.

Scotland Yard has been working with Greek counterparts to track down Saunders's killers and Greece has pledged to step up the fight against attacks, particularly ahead of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

Cook said the British authorities would continue to work closely with the Greek police.

In its statement, found in a central Athens rubbish bin after an anonymous telephone call, November 17 said the assassin had been able to weave through heavy rush-hour traffic on a motorcycle.

The group said it had used two guns to kill Saunders and questioned why Greek police had not made this public.

It said that as well as a .45-calibre pistol that is its trademark weapon it had used a G-3 semi-automatic rifle.

The statement added that its members had fired a single shot from the rifle and then opened up with the .45-calibre handgun.

"Hiding that fact runs counter to their (the Greek police's) desperate attempts to gather any information from eyewitnesses," it said.

The group said it used the G-3 in case the car Saunders was driving was armoured, which it said it was not.

It criticised the British Government for not providing such an "important military official" with an armoured vehicle.

November 17, which says it has shifted its philosophy away from Marxism to anti-globalisation, takes its name from the date in 1973 when military rulers crushed a student uprising in Athens.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Police suspect shadowy leftist group in ambush that killed British diplomat
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Greek terror group says it killed British diplomat
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