Greek minister urged to quit over 'abduction' of Pakistani immigrants

A human rights group also called for the resignation of the Prime Minister, Costas Karamanlis over the allegations. The governments of Greece, Pakistan and Britain have denied accusations that they were involved in the alleged detention of 28 Pakistanis for several days in Athens and Ioannina after last year's July 7 bombings in London. The migrants claim that they were interrogated by Greek and British agents over their links with Pakistanis in Britain.

The prosecutor, Nikos Degaitis, filed abduction charges against "unknown persons" after establishing that the abductions took place, but not who carried them out. Officials said he had not established any involvement by foreign services, while two Greek intelligence agents were being treated as suspects. It is now up to an examining judge to indict specific people or file the case - in effect ending the prosecution.

The Socialist Party spokesman, Nikos Athanassakis, called for the resignation of the Culture Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis, who held the public order portfolio last year. "Mr Voulgarakis has been proved to have lied to the Greek people," said Mr Athanassakis.

The governing Conservatives said they would await the end of the investigation. "The government stands by what it has said in the past," said the government spokesman, Evangelos Antonaros.

Greece's Pakistani community voiced satisfaction with the prosecutor's findings, but the alleged abduction victims said that they feared they would be deported after going public with their claims. AP