Package bomb found at Greek embassy in Italy

Rome: A package bomb was found at the Greek Embassy in Rome today, three days after mail bombs exploded at two other embassies injuring two people.

Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman Gregoris Delavekouras said from Athens that no one was harmed in the latest incident, in part because heightened security measures had already been put in place.

"The embassy was evacuated and the staff assembled some distance away from the building, so that everyone could be accounted for," he told The Associated Press.

"There were already heightened security measures at the Greek and other embassies, so the procedure that had to be followed was clear. The matter is now in the hands of the Italian police."

Mail bombs exploded on Friday at the Chilean and Swiss embassies, injuring two people who opened them. An anarchist group with reported ties to Greek anarchists claimed responsibility.

Police, carabinieri and firefighters massed around the building today while the Greek Embassy staff lingered outside.

The street, in the residential Parioli neighborhood, remained open to traffic.

Reports of suspicious packages at the embassies of Venezuela, Monaco and Denmark were false alarms, police and news reports said.

There have been several other reports of suspicious packages in recent days that turned out to be false alarms.

Police told all embassies in the capital to be on alert after the package bombs on Friday; Monday was the first day of business after the Christmas holiday. Sweden's Foreign Ministry said no packages have so far been found at that

country's embassy in Rome, but that it was closed Monday "for security measures."

An Italian group calling itself the Informal Anarchist Federation claimed responsibility for Friday's blasts. News reports said that a claim found at one of the embassies cited the name of Lambros Fountas, a Greek anarchist who was killed in a shootout with police in March.

Interior Minister Roberto Maroni has said that investigators believe the anarchists who were responsible might have ties to Greek anarchists responsible for last month's letter bombings at Athens embassies.