Olympic Phone Tapping Revealed

It seems that the 2004 Olympic Games, which were held in Athens, were not as harmonious as the organisers would have you believe.

It has been revealed that persons unknown were tapping the phone lines of the Greek Prime Minister, and others, during the course of the games and beyond.

The mobile phones of Greek prime minister, Costas Caramanlis, and other top government and security officials were tapped by unknown individuals during the Athens 2004 Olympics and for nearly a year after.

Government spokesman, Theodoros Roussopoulos, said:

"The people [under surveillance] included the prime minister himself and other members of the government."

In fact around 100 people were tapped, including the ministers of foreign affairs, defence, public order and justice. Most of Greece's top military and police officers were also targeted, as were foreign ministry officials, a US embassy number and the prime minister's wife, Natasha.

Mr Roussopoulos, backed by public order minister Giorgos Voulgarakis and justice minister Anastassis Papaligouras, claimed that it had not been possible to identify who was behind the surveillance.

Quote:

"It was an unknown individual, or individuals, who used high technology."

However, rather intriguingly, the phone tappers used interceptors traced to the vicinity of the US embassy.

Greece was watched by western anti-terrorist experts, as it prepared to host the Olympics. Washington had been vocal in its demands for Athens to tighten security ahead of the Olympic games.