Crete: Three men arrested over synagogue arson attacks

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Reuters Published: 01.22.10, 18:56 / Israel News

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Police say three men suspected of involvement in arson attacks on Crete synagogue are nightclub employees; still looking for American suspect. Jewish community 'worried'

Greek police on Friday arrested two Britons and a Greek man in connection with two arson attacks against a synagogue on the Aegean island of Crete this month.

Police said they were still looking for a US citizen, who is suspected of setting fire to the synagogue in the city of Chania on January 5, while the other three men watched.

One of the Britons arrested was suspected of launching a similar attack on January16, police said, damaging extensively the roof of the building, thousands of books and computers.

"We have arrested three people over the synagogue attacks, and we are still looking for a US citizen," said a police official who declined to be named.

The police official said the Britons, both in their early twenties, and the 33-year-old Greek were nightclub employees. They were expected to appear before a prosecutor within the next few days.

The attacks have alarmed Greece's 8,000-strong Jewish community.

"I can't say I'm happy now; they should have arrested them earlier, after the first attack and not leave the synagogue unprotected," Moses Constantinis, head of the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece, told Reuters.

"We are worried, the Jewish community is worried."

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