3 Bombs Damage Police Site in Athens

Three bombs exploded behind a police station in Athens at dawn today, 100 days before the Greek capital is scheduled to play host to this summer’s Olympic Games.

The specter of terrorism has haunted preparations for the Olympics, which have lagged far behind schedule and raised fears about whether the nation can provide adequate security.

No casualties were initially reported, but there was significant damage to the building. The first two explosions went off within five minutes of each other and the third about half an hour later as bomb experts investigated, a police official told Reuters.

“You have three sophisticated time bombs going off outside a police station, that’s serious enough for police,” the official said.

Authorities said an anonymous warning was received by a local newspaper 10 minutes ahead of the blasts at the back of the Kallithea police station, on the southern side of the city near several hotels that will be used by Olympic officials. The area had been cordoned off before the blasts, which occurred hours before ceremonies were scheduled to mark the 100-day milestone.

Top Greek security officials are in Washington this week meeting with CIA Director George J. Tenet and other U.S. officials to discuss Olympic security measures.

The Olympics starting Aug. 13 will be the first Summer Games since the Sept. 11 attacks, which changed the way many in the world view the threat of terrorism. Security experts have been especially nervous about holding such a colossal event in a country such as Greece, with a porous border close to volatile regions in the Balkans and Middle East -- and with a long history of anti-U.S. sentiment.

Especially after massive bombings in Madrid in March and neighboring Turkey last year, Greece has struggled to convince outsiders that it can make the Games safe. It has asked the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to help, and a dozen countries have been providing technical assistance. Select nations -- the U.S., Britain and Israel, for example -- will be allowed to field their own contingents of armed guards to protect their athletes.

Greece is spending a record $800 million on security, including the installation of surveillance cameras throughout Athens. That is three times the amount spent on security at the 2000 Sydney Games.

But the possibility of Greece becoming a target for political violence has loomed large.

A small, highly localized militant group, November 17, conducted a series of political slayings and other attacks over the last couple of decades but is thought to have been dismantled after numerous arrests and a trial of its leaders last autumn.