German police visiting Athens to investigate who sent a parcel bomb to Chancellor Angela Merkel are under directives from federal prosecutors in Karlsruhe, it emerged on Thursday, DPA reported.
The prosecutors have opened an inquiry against unnamed people on suspicion of membership in a foreign terrorist organization and an attempt to cause an explosion, a spokesman said.
The federal prosecutor, who is responsible for anti-terrorism inquiries, must name a specific crime when opening an inquiry. Under German law, harm done to a German national anywhere in the world can be investigated and punished through the country's justice system.
Police say the parcel that showed up Tuesday in the mailroom at Merkel's office had been posted on Monday from Athens. It contained gunpowder and was "capable of detonation," the federal prosecution's spokesman said.