World briefs 03/04/03

New U.S. Embassy opens in Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya -- A new, heavily fortified U.S. Embassy was inaugurated Monday in Nairobi, 4 1/2 years after a terrorist attack on the complex killed 219 people.

The four-story building is the first U.S. mission to be built from scratch since Congress authorized upgrades to diplomatic missions around the world after the Aug. 7, 1998 bombing.

A second new embassy was to be dedicated Tuesday in Dar es Salaam, the capital of neighboring Tanzania, where a nearly simultaneous attack killed 12 people and injured 80.

U.S. authorities blame Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network for both bombings. A U.S. federal court has convicted four men for their roles in the attacks and sentenced them to life in prison.

In a brief inauguration ceremony, U.S. Undersecretary for Management Grant Green told Kenyans the United States had not given in to terrorists by scaling back its presence.

Trial opens for terror suspects in Greece

ATHENS, Greece -- In a bunker-like courtroom guarded from every angle, the alleged masterminds and hit men of Greece's deadly November 17 terrorist cell went on trial Monday for a violent legacy that shifted from 1970s Marxist revolt to rage against modern globalization.

Their victims have included U.S., Turkish and British envoys. But for Greece, there's more to examine than the 2,000-count litany of killings and other crimes blamed on the once impenetrable November 17.

The trial of the 19 suspects is widely seen as an historic landmark under anti-terrorism laws bolstered for the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

The trial is another major step by Greek authorities to redeem a reputation tarnished by failure to stop the group for 28 years, once earning the U.S. State Department rebuke as Europe's "weak link" against terrorism.

The group is blamed for more than 100 bombings, a string of armed robberies and 23 murders since it first struck in 1975 with the slaying of Richard Welch, the CIA station chief in Athens.

-- From wire reports