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Greek Police Gird for Protests During Rice Visit
By ANTHEE CARASSAVA
ATHENS, April 24 — On the eve of a visit here by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the police increased security around potential American targets on Monday and prepared for a wave of protests by antiwar demonstrators and others.
A bomb attack against a French car dealership and a failed attack against a McDonald's restaurant during the weekend followed the announcement that Ms. Rice would visit Athens on Tuesday, two days earlier than originally planned. She is scheduled to meet with the prime minister, Kostas Karamanlis, and other officials as part of a five-day tour of Europe.
Foreign Ministry officials did not comment on why her visit had been rescheduled, but anti-American sentiments run high in Greece, and heated protests forced Secretary of State Colin L. Powell to call off a trip here to attend the closing of the 2004 Olympics. Security concerns also caused President Clinton to shorten a visit here in 1999.
As many as 5,000 police officers were being deployed across the capital to provide security during Ms. Rice's visit, police officials said.
An anarchist group, Anti-State Struggle, claimed responsibility for the weekend violence, in which no injuries were reported. It threatened "more action against Rice's visit" in telephone calls to a local television station, police officials said.
Security concerns mounted as hundreds of protesters attended an antiwar vigil organized by the Communist Party in central Athens on Monday evening, and a coalition of antiwar groups scheduled a protest march to the United States Embassy for Tuesday.
At the protest this evening, a banner reading "Condoleezza Rice Go Home" was unfurled near the United States Embassy.
"The American secretary of state comes to Athens as a messenger of war," said Alekos Alavanos, head of Synaspismos, a small left-wing party planning to take part in the protests. "Rice is persona non grata here."
During her visit, Ms. Rice is expected to discuss Iran's nuclear program, to be addressed in a report on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council this week. Greece is a nonpermanent member of the Security Council.
Ms. Rice is also scheduled to visit Turkey and Bulgaria.
By ANTHEE CARASSAVA
ATHENS, April 24 — On the eve of a visit here by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the police increased security around potential American targets on Monday and prepared for a wave of protests by antiwar demonstrators and others.
A bomb attack against a French car dealership and a failed attack against a McDonald's restaurant during the weekend followed the announcement that Ms. Rice would visit Athens on Tuesday, two days earlier than originally planned. She is scheduled to meet with the prime minister, Kostas Karamanlis, and other officials as part of a five-day tour of Europe.
Foreign Ministry officials did not comment on why her visit had been rescheduled, but anti-American sentiments run high in Greece, and heated protests forced Secretary of State Colin L. Powell to call off a trip here to attend the closing of the 2004 Olympics. Security concerns also caused President Clinton to shorten a visit here in 1999.
As many as 5,000 police officers were being deployed across the capital to provide security during Ms. Rice's visit, police officials said.
An anarchist group, Anti-State Struggle, claimed responsibility for the weekend violence, in which no injuries were reported. It threatened "more action against Rice's visit" in telephone calls to a local television station, police officials said.
Security concerns mounted as hundreds of protesters attended an antiwar vigil organized by the Communist Party in central Athens on Monday evening, and a coalition of antiwar groups scheduled a protest march to the United States Embassy for Tuesday.
At the protest this evening, a banner reading "Condoleezza Rice Go Home" was unfurled near the United States Embassy.
"The American secretary of state comes to Athens as a messenger of war," said Alekos Alavanos, head of Synaspismos, a small left-wing party planning to take part in the protests. "Rice is persona non grata here."
During her visit, Ms. Rice is expected to discuss Iran's nuclear program, to be addressed in a report on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council this week. Greece is a nonpermanent member of the Security Council.
Ms. Rice is also scheduled to visit Turkey and Bulgaria.
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