The Greek government was yesterday forced to postpone President Clinton's long-awaited visit to the capital. The move, which has embarrassed the government, was fuelled by fears for his safety.
Highlighting what has fast become one of Mr Clinton's most controversial visits abroad, Athens announced that the three-day state trip would be delayed by nearly a week to tighten security.
Fears of terrorism in the capital - the home of "November 17", one of Europe's most enigmatic terrorist groups - grew yesterday as four gas canister bombs exploded outside a local car dealership in what appeared to be yet another protest against Mr Clinton's arrival.
After a rash of anti-American demonstrations by Greeks denouncing the President for his policies in Kosovo, the explosions follow a string of attacks on US targets in Athens.
"The atmosphere here is very dicey, all these demonstrations have been a blot on the entire trip," said one US diplomat. "There's great concern and, yes, we're very disappointed."
Instead of a three-day stopover, Mr Clinton will now spend
less than 24 hours from November 19th. It had been hoped that the trip, originally set to start this Saturday, would help cement tentative rapprochement between Ankara and Athens, the Alliance's two feuding partners. Mr Clinton says he sees reconciliation between Greece and Turkey as a top priority before the end of his administration next year.
But in a nation where anti-American fervour runs deep, opposition to the visit does not look set to subside soon. A poll published in the Athenian press showed that an overwhelming 80.5 per cent of the population - from both the left and right - think ill of Mr Clinton, the man Greeks blame most for NATO's three-month bombing campaign against fellow Orthodox Serbia earlier this year. Some 61.2 per cent preferred that he did not come at all.
"Kosovo proved beyond any doubt that he is a butcher of the first order," said Mr Yiannis Antonopoulos, a pensioner attending a protest with a placard pilloring Mr Clinton around his neck. "Why should he come? He's not going to sign any agreement solving any of our problems. We Greeks don't want him here."