A bomb disguised as a gift exploded inside the Greek law enforcement ministry on Thursday night, killing a close ministerial aide in Greece’s highest profile attack in years.

Public Order Minister Michalis Chryssohoidis, who was in his office a few metres away from the blast, said the package had been intended for him.

Giorgos Vassilakis, 52, head of the minister’s security team, died instantly when the device, thought to have been gift-wrapped as a box of sweets, went off in his hands.

Pale and visibly shaken, but otherwise unharmed, Mr Chryssohoidis told reporters he had “lost a valuable and beloved associate.”

So strong was the blast that employees in the building thought it had been struck by an earthquake.

“The cowardly murderers will be brought to justice,” said Chryssohoidis, who is considered instrumental in dismantling Greece’s notorious November 17 terrorist group in 2002 during his previous tenure as public order minister.

“We say one more time that we are not afraid and we will not be terrorized,” Chryssohoidis stressed. “We will continue our struggle to keep our citizens, neighbourhoods, and cities safe.”

The Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou expressed his pain and exasperation over the bomb attack.

“At a time when our country and our people are waging a daily battle to bring us out of the (financial) crisis, cowardly murderers want to undermine normality and our democracy … and the sacrifices the Greek people are making to set the country on its feet,” Papandreou said in a statement.
Security analysts also expressed alarm last night.

“This signifies a malicious escalation from violence on public property to public persons that could potentially intimidate other ministers from doing their jobs,” said Aya Burmeila, a senior analyst at the Research Institute for European and American Studies.