U.S. Secretary of State Colin Power cancelled a weekend visit to attend the Athens 2004 closing ceremony just hours after demonstrators staged a protest march in central Athens.
Greece’s foreign ministry said that Powell informed his Greek counterpart that “urgent responsibilities” prevented him from carrying out the visit – which was to include meetings with Greek Premier Costas Caramanlis and U.S. athletes participating in the Games.
Powell will instead visit Athens in October.
Greek activists, who said the threat of street protests also forced Powell to cancel a trip in 2003, considered it a victory.
Activist Yiannis Sifakakis told Reuters, “of course, the cancellation was linked to our protests. This is a huge victory for the anti-war movement which protested by the thousands in the streets of Athens last night”.
Before the visit was cancelled Greek activists draped a large banner saying “Powell Killer Go Home” over a side of the ancient Acropolis hill near the Parthenon.
Later, Reuters reports that about 1,500 members of the Greek Communist Party peacefully marched through Athens chanting “Get the Killer Imperialists Out of Greece”.
Sources in the anti-war movement said that before news of the cancellation was announced activists had been secretly planning to stage further protests over the weekend.
According to Reuters an unnamed senior U.S. official hinted that Powell’s trip might have caused unspecified difficulties for Greece, which has mounted a major security operation to keep the Olympics safe”.
He said, “the Greeks have done a terrific job with the Olympics and the last thing that we want to do is have complications with a trip that might detract from their success”.
