Arrests in Greece after bomb blast in front of labor ministry

Greek police said on Saturday they had arrested four men accused of possessing explosives, a week after a bomb exploded outside the labor ministry in Athens. The bomb exploded early on February 3 but caused no casualties, it was placed in a backpack hanging on a railing opposite the ministry.
The suspects were arrested on Friday "for construction and possession of explosives and incendiary materials," police said in a statement. The arrests were not directly related to the blast, but one of the men was linked to an extremist group, the statement added.
Greek media identified the group as the "Fiery Cores Conspiracy," an anarchist group whose members served long prison terms for letter bombings. A man who anonymously called a Greek daily newspaper to warn of the impending explosion on February 3 claimed to be a member of the "Revolutionary Class Self-Defense," a previously unknown organization. Attacks against public institutions, banks and diplomatic missions have been repeated in Greece for years. They are usually attributed to far-left or anarchist movements. /BGNES, AFP