Body of missing terrorist thought found in Greece

Breguet disappeared in 1995 Keystone Archive

The Swiss authorities have launched an investigation into the possibility that remains of a body discovered in Greece were of a Swiss terrorist and accomplice of Carlos the Jackal, Bruno Breguet, who went missing in 1995.

A foreign ministry spokesman Livio Zanolari said forensic tests would be conducted this week.

The remains were found in a village in northwest Greece on Friday. Greek authorities said the lower limbs were encased in cement and buried under rocks, with other skeleton parts nearby.

Yannis Fournarakis, head of Igoumenitsa port authority, said the body was that of a middle aged man and appeared to be at least five years old.

State coroner Ilias Vouyouklakis said DNA tests would be used to identify the victim.

Greek police have so far treated the possibility of the remains being Breguet with some caution since the area where the body was found, close to Italy and Albania, is used by smugglers.

Breguet, then 44, disappeared in November 1995 after travelling from Greece to Italy by ferry. Italian authorities refused him entry and returned him on the same boat. His family at the time said they suspected he had been murdered.

Breguet was imprisoned in Israel between 1970-1977 on explosives smuggling charges. He was arrested again in Paris in 1982 for possession of explosives with Magdalena Kopp, who later married Carlos. France sent him back to Switzerland in 1985 where he lived quietly until his disappearance.

swissinfo with agencies