Widow's appeal in hunt for killers

Police seal off Brigadier Saunders' car after the murder

The Northern Ireland-born widow of murdered British defence attache Stephen Saunders has appealed to the Greek public for information on her husband's killers.

Heather Saunders, who is from Belfast, said they had destroyed her and her family and they must be brought to justice.

Greek guerrilla group November 17 admitted killing Brigadier Saunders, who spent part of his military career in Northern Ireland.

The group said they killed him because of his role in the Kosovo conflict.

Brigadier Saunders' wife, Heather, is escorted to the hospital

Mrs Saunders, who married the brigadier in Northern Ireland in 1983, said: "Stephen was my life. I stand before you half the person I was yesterday morning."

Standing outside her Athens home, with her two teenage daughters at her side, she said: "Anyone who saw anything, even a little thing, please tell the police."

She said her husband was a loving father and "a man committed to peace" who had never raised his gun to kill anyone.

Brigadier Saunders was shot dead by two people on a motorbike on Thursday morning on his way to work at the British Embassy.

The 53-year-old had been the deputy commander at the Northern Ireland headquarters of the 8th Infantry Brigade in Londonderry between 1992 and 1994.

Mrs Saunders' brother Stephen Kell, who recently left Belfast to live in England, spoke to BBC Radio Ulster about the tragedy.

He said: "He (Brigadier Saunders) served in Northern Ireland on and off for quite a lot of his career, having been involved in a number of incidents there. To survive Northern Ireland, to find himself in a holiday climate - being shot dead is bizarre.

"Before he met my sister, he had done a couple of tours in Northern Ireland and they met and got married and served together in Lisburn."

Even though he was in the army, he certainly was a peaceful man

Stephen Kell

Mr Kell pointed out that Brigadier Saunders had been attacked in Northern Ireland on a number of occasions.

"I think he had been attacked on two or three occasions, but he never once drew his weapon and fired - primarily, and understandably, because there was always a risk that someone innocent could be injured or killed.

"Even though he was in the army, he certainly was a peaceful man."

He pointed out that his brother-in-law had also served in Cyprus, Hong Kong, Zimbabwe, Australia and then Athens.

Brigadier Saunders was shot four times

But he said that the dead man had "loved" his time in Northern Ireland.

"He would have loved to have had the opportunity of retiring there," he said. "It's not easy for an ex-serviceman to retire to Northern Ireland, but that certainly would have been one of his long-term wishes.

"He loved the people. He visited as often as he could, when he was not posted there."

He said his sister had been very brave.

"My father is particularly proud of her.

"One of the big concerns will be coming back from Athens and moving into the family home because of all the happy memories.

"But obviously he'll not be there to share those memories," he said.

November 17 admitted carrying out the attack in a 13-page statement sent to the left-wing Greek newspaper, Eleftherotypia.

The group blamed Brigadier Saunders' participation in programming allied operations against Serbia.

Nato's air action against Yugoslavia was massively unpopular in Greece, with opinion polls showing the public united against it.

In its statement, November 17 also said it had carried out a series of attacks attributed to it by police in the spring of 1999 in which no-one was killed.

November 17 is a Marxist-Leninist group, but in recent years its statements have taken on an increasingly nationalistic tone.

No member of November 17 has been caught throughout its 25-year campaign.

Police said ballistic tests showed the spent shells from a .45 calibre automatic pistol found on the scene came from a weapon used by November 17 in previous attacks.

The group has killed three Greeks and an American with the same gun since 1980 and wounded a Greek parliamentary deputy. Brigadier Saunders is its 23rd victim.

Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou promised "to do everything possible to bring the perpetrators to justice".