Nothing is known about Rigas Fereos (RF) other than their name and the circumstances of their only known attack.  The name Rigas Fereos could have been selected for one or both of the following reasons: <p>1) Rigas Fereos was a Greek Revolutionary hero at the time of the fight for Greek independence against the Ottomans in 1821.  RF may have chosen its name to honor this man.<p>2) Rigas Fereos is the name that the youth branch of the Greek communist party chose for itself (in tribute to the revolutionary hero of the same name).  Rigas Fereos was an active part of the anti-dictatorship movement during the mid- 1970s, and Greek police speculate that members of Aris, a subgroup of Rigas Fereos, went on to join ELA, one of Greece's two most infamous terrorist organizations.  RF may have chosen its name to honor this group, or it may have members in common with this group.<p><p>Rigas Fereos chose not to explain the motivation for its one and only attack, a failed attempt to bomb the offices of the Fulbright Foundation.  RF may have chosen the Fulbright Foundation merely because it is an American institution.  It is also possible, however, that RF chose the Fulbright Foundation because it opposes the foundation's attempts to strengthen ties between the United States and Greece.  Resentment of the Fulbright Foundation is not uncommon among nationalistic Greeks.  For example, an article on the Cyprus controversy published in the widely read Athens paper Ta Nea stated that "today certain 'enlightened' academics (most of whom 'saw the light' while studying at Anglo-Saxon universities and other sacred institutions, including the Fulbright Commission) are busy publishing volumes of books in a bid to prove that Cypriots were never part of the Greek race." (Kapsis, January 28, 2000)  Whether or not RF had reasons for choosing the Fulbright Foundation instead of another American target, it is clear that they are a nationalistic and anti-American group.

Rigas Fereos has not been involved in an attack since October of 2002 and is presumed inactive.  It seems likely that they formed for the purpose of attacking the Fulbright Foundation and that they ceased to exist afterwards.  It is very common for Greek terrorist organizations to attack once and then disappear.  <p><p>Relatively few groups have claimed responsibility for attacks in Thessaloniki.  These groups include the Movement Against State Arbitrariness, the Revolutionary People's Struggle (ELA), the Anti-Authority Erotic Cells, Revolutionary Struggle, and the Anti-Mainstream Self-Determination Faction.  Greek police consider it possible that the fact that these groups have attacked in the same city means that some of them share members.