ATHENS: Unknown attackers fired automatic rifle shots at the German ambassador’s residence in Athens yesterday but caused no injuries, police said.
The shooting happened at around 3.30am (0130 GMT) when German Ambassador Wolfgang Dold was inside the residence in the north of the Greek capital.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which occurred as Greece prepares to take over the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union tomorrow.
Anti-German sentiment has been on the rise in Greece in recent years over EU paymaster Germany’s perceived role in pushing for severe austerity measures in return for the country’s 2¤40bn ($330bn) bailout.
Athens “strongly condemns this cowardly terrorist act whose only aim is to degrade Greece’s image abroad a few days before it takes charge of the European Union presidency”, said a statement by Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos.
A police officer guarding the site said he saw a group of four people firing the shots.
Another man on the scene, who identified himself as a neighbour, claimed he witnessed the attack from inside his home. “There were four persons, but only one of them wielded a gun...it was as if he was tutoring the others on how to do it,” he told reporters.
Artificial heart patient in good condition: Hospital
PARIS: French artificial heart maker Carmat’s first patient is in a “very satisfactory condition” 12 days after being fitted with the device, the hospital treating him said yesterday.
The 75-year-old Frenchman is eating normally and spent three hours sitting in a chair in the company of his family on Sunday, the team caring for him at the Georges Pompidou European Hospital in Paris said.
“The artificial heart is functioning normally, automatically catering to the body’s needs without any manual adjustment necessary,” surgeons Alain Carpentier and Christian Latremouille said in a statement issued by the hospital. Three more patients in France are due to be fitted with the device.
Agencies
