Significant Incidents of Political Violence Against Americans 1988

March 10, 1988---Istanbul, Turkey: A bomb detonated
outside of the Saudi-American Bank which
caused minor damage but no injuries. The Saudi-
American Bank is affiliated with Citibank. The
KOC-American Bank (affiliated with American
Express) is also housed in the same building as the
Saudi-American Bank. No group claimed credit for
the attack.
Athens, Greece.
February 20, 1988---Frankfurt, West Germany:
Thirteen demonstrators took over the Pan Am office
for 1 hour, between 11 a.m. and noon. The demonstrators
demanded an end to "Israeli Massacre of
Palestinians." The protest ended peacefully when
the police arrived.
February 22, 1988--Goeppingen, West Germany:
An unknown number of individuals cut
through a wire fence at the 1st Infantry Division's
Cook Barracks in Goeppingen (which is 20 miles
east of Stuttgart) and planted bombs near the gas
tanks of six trucks. Two of the devices failed to
detonate, and damage to the other vehicles was
estimated at $3,000. An examination of the devices
that did not explode showed that they were homemade.
No group has claimed credit for the attack.
February 24, 1988--Iraklion, Crete: A peaceful
demonstration protesting the arrival of the U.S.
supply ship "Saturn" turned violent due to the presence
of a handful of agitators. The demonstrators,
numbering some 250 people, forced their way past
the Greek port police and began to throw rocks,
bottles, and fruit at the ship. They also attempted to
tear down the ship's gangplank and set the ship's
mooring lines on fire. After two molotov cocktails
were thrown on the deck of the ship, sailors aboard
the "Saturn" turned water hoses on the
demonstrators. Four demonstrators and two
American sailors were injured in the incident.
March 18, 1988---Madrid, Spain: Some 80-100
demonstrators gathered in front of the U.S.
Embassy and began shouting anti-US, slogans and
spray-painting graffiti on the front wall of the
perimeter fence. The group was protesting the
presence of American troops in Honduras• When
the police arrived in force they were able to
disperse the group. No arrests were made.
March 19, 1988--Athens, Greece: At 11:10 p.m.,
a bomb exploded at Oscar's Pub in Glyfada (suburb
of Athens) injuring 14 people (4 of whom were U.S.
servicemen and 1 U.S. civilian). Oscar's Pub is a
popular nightspot for U.S. servicemen from
Hellenikon Air Base. Two days later, on March 21,
there were two claims of responsibility for the
attack. An anonymous male called the staff of the
Greek newspaper, Rizospastis, and stated that the
National Liberation Struggle (a previously
unknown group) was responsible. The staff of
another Greek newspaper, Eleftherotypia, also
received a call from a man who claimed credit in
the name of the Revolutionary Peoples Solidarity.
The second caller also told the newspaper where it
could find the group's communique.
In essence, the communique was critical of
the "economic domination of Greece by the North
Americans, the international multinational capitalists
and their allies and partners." According to
the communique, the group carried out the attack
•.. as an actual expression of revolutionary peoples
solidarity with the Palestinian people, and with the
Nicaraguan people who are threatened with military
intervention of North American imperialists and also
against the terrorist presence and occupationdomination
of the North Americans in our country.
A subsequent police investigation revealed
that the bomb used in the attack (and which was
placed in a jacket and left near the entrance of the
bar) was a low order device not meant to cause
28