N17 alleged leader in court

Police have raided a number of the group's "dens"

ATHENS, Greece -- The suspected mastermind of the November 17 terror group has appeared in a Greek court.

Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis went on national television to promise a "tough but fair" trial for Alexandros Giotopoulos, who refused to acknowledge any connection to N17.

The U.S. State Department has congratulated Greek authorities on their arrest of eight alleged members of November 17 -- the first breakthrough in their 27-year fight against the terrorist group.

Simitis said: "The time has come for the guilty to answer for their acts. Our goal is to further instill the security of the Greek public and to show in practice our country to be one of the safest in the world."

Giotopoulos, a leftist radical born in Paris in 1944, has been accused by police of heading the elusive terror group responsible for 23 killings.

EXTRA INFORMATION Chronology: N17 terror attacks

The son of a well-known 1930s Communist theoretician and follower of Leon Trotsky, Giotopoulos was active in the Paris-based opposition of Greek students to the military dictatorship that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974.

He had been living under the assumed name Michalis Economou for the past few years.

Yiotopoulos is said to have written most of the November 17 propaganda released after its numerous terror attacks.

Greek Police Chief Fotis Nassiakos added that Yiotopoulos was carrying a false identify card and that his fingerprints had been found in one of several November 17 "dens" raided by police.

Saunders was shot four times

Police have been under pressure to improve security ahead of the 2004 Olympics, have arrested eight alleged N17 members in the last month – but it is also the first time since N17 emerged that there have been any arrests.

Greece police say three of the suspects confessed to assassinating U.S. and British military figures.

Among the group's suspected victims are Richard Welch, the CIA's station chief in Athens, and Brigadier Stephen Saunders, the British military attache who was shot dead on his way to work two years ago.

November 17, which Greek police say was a small, close-knit group, is believed to target the United States and its allies because of Washington's backing for the Greek military junta.

U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher was quoted by The Associated Press as saying: "This has been a very good effort by Greek authorities...and we commend them for that."

Nassiakos told national television that three of the suspects arrested were brothers -- Savas Xiros, Christodoulos Ziros, and Vassilis Xiros.

Nassiakos told reporters that Vasslis Xyros, 30, had confessed to killing Brigadier Saunders, 53, on June 8, 2000.

Saunders' widow Heather has campaigned to find his killers. She told Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper: "I have spoken to some of the other Greek families of victims and we are all very excited about the prospect of finally seeing these people brought to justice."

Police are holding Christodoulos Xyros, 46, and Dionyssis Georgiabes, 26.

The Xyros brothers and Georgiabes were described by Nassiakos as "foot soldiers" in the group.

Vasslis Xyros is suspected to have been involved in 15 November 17 terror attacks while Georgiabes is believed to have been involved in three attacks. He is also said to have rented an apartment where a .45 calibre pistol, believed to be the murder weapon that killed Saunders, was found.

They were arrested after Savas Xyros was severely injured in an alleged botched attack when the bomb he was carrying exploded on June 29 at the port of Piraeus.