Greece's former Prime Minister and former Central Bank Chief has been injured after an explosive device hidden in an envelope went off inside his car in central Athens, according to Police. Lucas Papademos was taken to hospital with his driver who was also hurt, Reuters news agency reported a police official as saying on Thursday.
Papademos was appointed caretaker Prime Minister in November 2011 to help his country stay in the eurozone. He held the position until elections in May 2012. Papademos has also served as Vice President of the European Central Bank.
"The explosive device was in the interior of his car, which resulted in his injury and the injury of his driver," Al Jazeera's John Psaropoulos, reporting from Athens, said.
"He was taken to a central Athens hospital to be treated for his wounds."
As to why Papademos may be targeted, our correspondent said "he was Prime Minister during a very controversial period during the Greek bailout".
"During that time, two controversial things happened: Minimum wage was lowered by 20 percent, which is an act that is still talked about in controversial terms; and Greece discounted its bonds by 75 percent, which means that most of the value of those bonds held by private entities, including pension funds, was wiped out.
"Essentially, that bankrupted the pension funds, meaning they have been supported by the government ever since. Those two acts are considered to have been done by Papademos, who was an unelected prime minister."
Al Jazeera's Psaropoulos said: "Some people agree with what Papademos did, many people do not."
Culled from: Aljazeera.com
