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A former Greek prime minister has been injured after a booby-trapped package exploded in his car in central Athens, in the worst act of violence targeting a politician in the crisis-hit country for several years.
Key points:
- Lucas Papdemos is being treated for wounds to his abdomen and right leg
- Two others in the vehicle will were also hurt in the blast
- Greece has a history of small-scale attacks on politicians
Lucas Papademos, who served a brief stint as caretaker prime minister in late 2011 to mid-2012, did not have life threatening injuries, authorities said.
An Athens hospital source told Reuters he was being treated for superficial wounds to his abdomen and a slightly deeper injury to his right leg.
Mr Papademos, 69, is a former central banker who held a senior role in the European Central Bank.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Greece has a history of small-scale attacks against politicians, businesses and police — a Greek urban guerilla group is thought to have dispatched a batch of letter bombs addressed to European public figures, which was discovered by Greek authorities in March.
Thursday's blast, in which a hospital official said two others in the vehicle were also hurt, was the most prominent since a booby-trapped package killed a guard for the then public order minister in 2010.
An envelope containing bullets and addressed to Greece's general secretary for public revenue was intercepted at a post office branch in Athens on Tuesday.
The country remains in recession with the highest unemployment rate in Europe, and a stalled creditor review has interrupted payouts under its international bailout programme, its third since 2010.
Rush hour attack caused 'total panic'
Footage from the scene, at a busy intersection in central Athens during rush hour, showed a black vehicle with its hazard lights on, virtually undamaged save for extensive cracks on the front windscreen.
Greek media reported the vehicle was armoured, containing the blast within its interior.
"It was total panic," a witness told Greece's Skai TV.
"I felt my car shake … it was like a small earthquake."
European Central Bank president Mario Draghi condemned the attack: "We are saddened by the attack against our former colleague, Lucas Papademos, a brave public servant of Greece and Europe."
Mr Papademos had been in retirement since stepping down as prime minister in May 2012 following elections in the country.
A Greek central bank source said Mr Papademos had earlier left the Bank of Greece building when the explosion occurred.
A police source said fragments of an envelope found at the scene of the incident suggested it was addressed to the Academy of Athens, of which Mr Papademos is president.
Reuters
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, world-politics, unrest-conflict-and-war, greece