British diplomat killed in Athens attack

The British defence attache in Greece has been shot and killed in an ambush in the capital, Athens.

The army officer, Brigadier Steven Saunders, was attacked by two men on a motorcycle as he drove to work.

He was shot several times in the chest and stomach, and died in hospital as surgeons tried to save him.

The gunmen escaped.

The British Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, condemned the attack as brutal and pointless.

The Greek foreign minister, George Papandreou, said his government would confront what he called any act of terrorism and defend Greece's public and international image.

Earlier, the Greek government said the attack bore the hallmarks of a left-wing guerrilla organisation known as November the Seventeenth. A BBC correspondent in Athens say the group has a long history of attacking western diplomats in Greece.

It attacked the German ambassador's residence last year and had previously killed an official of the American Central Intelligence Agency. None of the group's members has ever been caught.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service