Athens
Somebody listened in on the cell phones of top Greek government officials and dozens of other people around the time of the 2004 Athens Olympics, the government confirmed last week. Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and his top ministers were all targeted, as were journalists, political activists, and a number of Arab residents. Vodafone Greece discovered illegal software installed in its system that allowed calls from certain phones to be recorded. The calls were reportedly beamed to an area in central Athens that includes the U.S. Embassy—a fact that has fueled conspiracy theories about U.S. espionage. Vodafone removed the software and reported the wiretapping to the government last March, but the scandal didn’t hit the Greek press until last week.
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