Greeks Protest to Malta Over Assault on Jet

ATHENS — Greece on Tuesday protested to Malta over its authorization of a bloody commando assault on a hijacked Egyptian jet, saying a peaceful solution might have been possible.

“We don’t think that all the possibilities for negotiations were exhausted in Valletta,” Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias said.

Of the 58 people killed in the raid, 12 were Greek passengers.

“The government of Malta carries the political responsibility for the decision, and for this reason I am sending a letter (of protest) to Foreign Minister (Alex Sceberras) Trigona,” Papoulias told a news conference.

Egyptian troops stormed the plane Sunday as it was parked on an airport runway in Valletta, the Maltese capital, where it landed after being hijacked on an Athens-to-Cairo flight.

Pro-government newspapers denounced the raid. “There is no doubt that behind the stupid attack of the Egyptian commandos was Washington,” asserted Avriani, a paper reported to be linked directly to Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou’s office.

The newspaper Eleftherotypia, quoting the Greek ambassador to Rome, said the hijackers “were ready to free the 17 Greek passengers when authorities in Malta gave the green light to the Egyptian commandos to strike.”

“The plane belonged to Egypt and so did the commandos, but not the passengers. What happened was manslaughter,” Eleftherotypia quoted Greek Ambassador Nikos Stremenos as saying.

“I denounce Maltese authorities for delaying my immediate landing and negotiations with the hijackers,” said Stremenos, who flew Sunday night from Rome to Malta to engage in possible negotiations. “If they allowed negotiations, we would not mourn over so many casualties.”

At his news briefing, Papoulias rejected continuing criticism of security at Athens airport, criticism that began with the June hijacking of a TWA flight from Athens. He said that the weapons used by the hijackers were not carried aboard the plane there.