Greek Leftists Claim Responsibility for GI Bus Bombing

A left-wing Greek terrorist group Saturday claimed responsibility for a military bus bombing on Friday that injured 16 Americans and two Greeks, and it threatened to strike again.

The November 17 organization, blamed for 11 political killings since 1975, issued a rambling, four-page proclamation that was published in the left-wing Athens daily Eleftherotypia.

“We hit the Americans because their bases constitute an occupation force in our country. . . . We shall hit them without warning if they’re high or middle-ranking base personnel,” the proclamation said.

Diplomats said the bomb attack also appeared to be aimed at undermining the Socialist government’s policy of gradually improving U.S.-Greek relations.

The November 17 group is named after the date of a student uprising against the pro-American Greek military regime in 1973.

Twelve American military personnel, four civilians and two Greeks were wounded Friday evening by the remote-controlled blast near the capital’s fruit and vegetable market.

The military bus was shuttling Americans from a NATO artillery unit at Elefsis, outside the capital, to the U.S. Air Force base in an Athens suburb.

Two Americans remained hospitalized Saturday. A U.S. Embassy spokeswoman said Sgt. Jonathan Wayne O’Brien, from Ft. Lewis, Wash., was scheduled to be released today. Sgt. 1st Class Clinton L. Brown, from Idaho Falls, Ida., was in stable condition at Athens’ Hygeia Hospital with serious head injuries, she said.

The names of other victims were not made public.

The November 17 organization claimed responsibility for a similar remote-controlled bombing of a police bus in central Athens in November, 1985. The last previous attack claimed by the group was a failed shooting attempt against a Greek neurosurgeon in February.

Past attacks claimed by the organization include the killing of the Athens CIA station chief in 1975 and the slaying of a U.S. Navy officer in 1983.