ATHENS (Reuters) - An envelope which exploded at the European offices of the International Monetary Fund in Paris on Thursday carried a Greek return address and purported to have been sent by an opposition party official, Greece's public order minister said.
"French authorities just informed us that it was mailed from Greece," Nikos Toskas told Ant1 Television.
Earlier in the day, a Greek militant group, the Conspiracy of Fire Cells, had claimed responsibility for a similar package containing explosives that was intercepted by German authorities on Wednesday. That package, addressed to German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, had listed Adonis Georgiadis, vice-chairman of Greece's conservative New Democracy party, as its sender. [nL5N1GT2M4]
Public order minister Toskas said Thursday's letter bomb, which injured an administrative worker when it exploded at the IMF in Paris, had been sent in the name of Vasilis Kikilias, a senior New Democracy official. [nL5N1GT3JA]
Kikilias, a former public order minister, could not be contacted for comment.
"It is not at all pleasant that these parcels originated from our country but the issue of terrorism affects all European countries," Toskas told Antl.
The Conspiracy of Fire Cells has previously claimed responsibility for a wave of parcel bombs sent to foreign embassies in Athens in 2010.