Greece offers reward for arrests in 'barbaric' home invasion

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Greek authorities took the rare step of offering a cash reward for information leading to arrests for a 'œbarbaric'ť home invasion on the outskirts of Athens in which burglars strangled a young mother next to her 11-month-old baby on Tuesday.

The minister responsible for public order, Michalis Chrisochoidis, described the killing as 'œparticularly heinous,'ť and the government announced a 300,000-euro ($365,000) reward.

State-run ERT TV said the 20-year-old victim was sleeping with her husband and baby when three men broke into their home in Glyka Nera before dawn, after killing the family's dog. She was tied up and strangled, while her 32-year-old husband, a civil aviation pilot, was also bound and gagged.

'œOne rarely encounters such barbarity in Greece, in Greek society, even among criminals,'ť Chrisochoidis said, adding that two teams of detectives had been set up to handle the investigation.

Police said the victim was a British national married to a Greek, but didn't identify either.

The burglars escaped with cash and jewelry.