Three Iraqis and one Tunisian were detaining 20 illegal immigrants in a deserted house in Athens to extort from their captives more cash than what was initially agreed to smuggle them into the country, Greek police said Friday. The gang kept the immigrants locked up in the house for four days, deprived them of sufficient food and water and threatened to sell them on to other criminals to force money from their relatives here, police said in a statement.

Police raided the house and arrested the extortionists on Wednesday. Twenty-eight passports of other immigrants from Iraq, Pakistan and Bangladesh and a wooden stick were found on them. They were led before a public prosecutor to hear people smuggling and illegal immigration charges. The captive immigrants had agreed to pay between 2,500 and 3,000 euros (3,250-3,900 dollars) each to be smuggled into Greece from Turkey. 

***** 

The German embassy in Ankara, Turkey announced last week it had overhauled its much-criticized visa application system that saw hundreds of Turks line up outside the mission, often camping in the street for days. The embassy will introduce an appointment system on February 10, under which visa applicants will be invited to the embassy at a previously determined date and time and will be able to hand in their applications in just one hour, German Ambassador Wolf Ruthart Born said in a news conference.