Police evacuated Greece's Finance Ministry after a bomb threat was received just before a news conference by Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou on Thursday, a Reuters witness said.

"The ministry received an anonymous call at 1250 (0950 GMT) warning that a bomb would go off at 1330. We are now checking if it's a hoax," a police official told Reuters.

Police cordoned off the area. The ministry said the news conference was delayed for an hour.

Papaconstantinou was due to comment on the results of an EU/IMF inspection visit. 


Reuters