ONE WOMAN WAS injured today when a package exploded at a delivery company’s offices in Athens, Greece. Two other suspected parcel bombs were destroyed in controlled blasts in the city.

In total, four booby-trapped parcels were found in the Greek capital. One of these was addressed to French president Nicolas Sarkozy. The other three were intended for the embassies of Belgium, the Netherlands and Mexico. It was the parcel addressed to the Mexican embassy in Athens which went off at the delivery company, leaving the woman with burns to the hands.

Sky News quote Athens police spokesman Thanassis Kokalakis on AFP television:

The incident seems rather ridiculous and in Sarkozy’s case it’s quite evident that this parcel would never have reached its destination.

Greek police arrested four people. Two of these were men aged 22 and 24, who were found with the parcel addressed to Sarkozy. The police also claim that they were carrying handguns and that one was wearing a wig, baseball cap and a bulletproof vest.

The other two arrested, both young women, were released after questioning.

The bomb plot is believed to be linked to far-left Greek extremists. One of the men arrested is a suspected member of a group called Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei, who carry out arson attacks on offices and homes of politicians. In January of this year, that group planted a small explosive device in a dustbin outside the Greek parliament.

Associated Press says that anarchist attacks against police and major figures have been frequent since police shot a teenager during the riots of December 2008. Embassies and companies with foreign HQs have also been attacked by these groups, seemingly in sympathy with protests occurring abroad.