Makeshift bombs damage 26 French cars in Athens

ATHENS, Mar 11 (Reuters) Unknown assailants using makeshift bombs burned 26 French-made cars in showrooms and parking lots around Athens today, authorities said.

Scores of fire fighters were dispatched to five different locations in and near the Greek capital in the early morning, the fire department said. No one was hurt in the bombings, which mainly destroyed cars at Renault and Citroen showrooms.

French interests in Greece have been attacked in the past by groups expressing solidarity with rioting youths in France last year.

Police said the attackers had most likely used home-made gas canister bombs, a trademark of self-described anarchist groups which have long targeted Greek and foreign businesses and cars in Greece.

REUTERS CH PM1721