'Baby Jesus' goes missing
2006-12-29 17:36
Salonika - Baby Jesus went missing from the Christmas manger of Greece's second largest city Salonika after being snatched by a group of suspected anarchists, said local police on Friday.
A previously unknown group calling itself "The Mothers of Aristotelous Square" after Salonika's central thoroughfare declared it had abducted the holy infant's effigy to demand the release of two presumed anarchists held in pre-trial detention in Athens for the past seven months.
"They said that they will continue to hold Jesus as long as their comrades remain imprisoned," said Salonika police chief Stergios Apostolidis.
"They also said that the infant is in good hands, better than having to stay at Aristotelous Square under freezing temperatures," he added.
Two suspected anarchists held
This is the third time that baby Jesus has gone missing from the city's central Christmas decorations, after similar thefts in 1993 and 1997, state television Net reported.
The local municipality quickly replaced the missing effigy.
"No matter how many times they take the doll symbolising the holy infant, nothing can remove Jesus from our hearts," said deputy Salonika mayor Vassilis Gakis.
The two suspected anarchists held in Athens were arrested in May after incidents coinciding with the European Social Forum in Athens, and have been charged with breaking Greek laws on explosives, causing explosions and fires, and theft.
Both announced hunger strikes in November and December in protest at their detention.
- SAPA