by Maria Spiliopoulou
ATHENS, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Greek cabinet ministers and opposition parties condemned on Thursday the attack against former Prime Minister Loukas Papademos, wishing speedy recovery to all three persons who were slightly injured when a booby trapped envelope went off inside his car.
Greek Digital Policy Minister Nikos Pappas talked about a "blow to democracy" in a message posted on Twitter in a first comment.
Main opposition New Democracy party leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis who was among the first rushing to the central Athens hospital where Papademos was admitted, issued a statement condemning "the cowardly terrorist attack carried out by enemies of Greece and of democracy."
Similar statements were made by other political leaders, such as former Prime Minister George Papandreou, who also rushed to the hospital along government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos and the Governor of the central Bank of Greece Yannis Stournaras.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was informed of the incident while attending the NATO summit in Brussels.
Papademos, 69, has suffered injuries to his legs and abdomen, hospital sources told Greek national news agency AMNA.
His life was not in danger, as well as the lives of his driver and a security officer who was also riding the armored car.
"We saw the doors of the car opening and smoke coming out. We saw people who were rushing away carrying him... When we approached we saw that he could not walk, but he could move his hand," eyewitness Yannis A. who was inside a nearby store,told Xinhua.
According to police sources, the envelope had been sent to Papademos'office at the Athens Academy.
The former banker who had served as interim prime minister from November 2011 to May 2012, was elected president of the Athens Academy in early 2017.
Papademos has also served as Governor of the Central Bank of Greece (1994-2002) and vice president of the European Central Bank (2002-2010).
Although there is yet no claim of responsibility, suspicions fall on domestic groups who for several years attack political, financial and police targets, according to the same sources.
In recent years,"Conspiracy of the Nuclei of Fire" has claimed responsibility for a series of such attacks with booby trapped envelopes which have been sent also to European leaders.
In March this year, the group claimed responsibility for a package with explosives found at the German Finance Ministry. Another booby trapped envelope attributed to the group slightly injured an employee at the International Monetary Fund's premises in Paris a few hours later.
"Greek police will certainly take any necessary actions to quickly resolve the case in depth," Tzanakopoulos stressed in an e-mailed statement.
