Hellenic Police

Greek police evacuated the Foreign Ministry in central Athens on Friday after a suspicious package arrived through the mail, sources said.

A bomb disposal unit was on its way to check the parcel.

About 70 employees were waiting outside the ministry. 

The Hellenic Police (ELAS) has decided to schedule a monthly open day when citizens can voice their concerns and questions regarding law and order issues.

The initiative, which will take place at Attica Police Headquarters (173 Alexandras, Athens) from 2 p.m. until midnight on the last Thursday of every month, is aimed at building a close bond of trust between the force and citizens.

The removal on Tuesday of the Psychico police precinct director in the wake of Monday's attack on the Iranian Embassy in Athens by the anarchist group Rouvikonas was widely condemned by unions representing police officers and security guards.

The director is to be transferred to another division as the embassy was one of the buildings that fell under his supervision.

Police in Greece say three migrants were injured when the truck in which they were riding with 38 others crashed through a fence and collided with a parked car outside a town near the Greece-Turkey border. 

Police said the truck's 27-year-old Afghan driver was arrested after the accident outside Didymoticho on Saturday.

Greek police say they have arrested eight migrants on suspicion of the murder of a Pakistani man trying to leave the country illegally.

Police said Friday the eight were suspected of involvement in the July 23 stabbing death of a 29-year-old Pakistani man who had been with three compatriots heading toward Greece's northern border with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Greek police say two migrants have been killed in northeastern Greece, hit by the same local train in two separate incidents.

Justice Minister Stavros Kontonis has announced the launch of Greece's first Justice Police force, a body that was legislated 26 years ago but has only just come into being.

Greece marked International Missing Children's Day on Friday with a conference during which officials and experts presented encouraging statistics.

The overwhelming majority of minors who go missing in Greece are traced, according to the Greek police and NGO Smile of the Child, which organized the event.

The union of Greek police officers (POASY) is accusing the leadership of the Hellenic Police (ELAS) and the Citizens' Protection Ministry of indifference to and tolerance of attacks on officers deployed to protect notary firms conducting auctions of foreclosed properties.

The streets of Attica will be policed by an additional 700 officers who have been relieved from duty guarding buildings and senior officials (politicians, judges and others), and another 100 from various police bureaus and services.

The measure was announced by the Citizens' Protection Ministry amid growing criticism from opposition parties over a rise in crime rates.