Athens - A firebomb attack on a bank in Greece killed at least three people on Wednesday as police fought battles with striking protesters furious at brutal spending cuts designed to avoid bankruptcy.
Hooded youths hurled petrol bombs at stores and businesses in the centre of Athens and demonstrators tried to storm parliament, as the rioting spread to the second city of Thessaloniki.
Police said three people were known to be dead in the burning bank while firefighters said some 20 people had been inside when it was attacked.
Athens underground stations were shut and the international airport deserted as tens of thousands of union members rallied on the eve of a vote in parliament on the planned cuts and tax hikes.
Vital for Greece's survival
The general strike was the first major test of the Socialist government's resolve to push through unprecedented measures since agreeing a €110bn EU and IMF debt bailout on the weekend.
Prime Minister George Papandreou's insistence that the measures are vital for the nation's survival failed to dissuade unions from paralysing public transport, grounding air traffic and preventing ferries from leaving docks.
After rallying in two separate demonstrations in central Athens, members of the main unions began converging on parliament, where the government was preparing for the measures to be voted on tomorrow.
"They're taking everything from me, I don't know how I'm going to get by," said 61-year-old Anargyros Bizianis, a municipal worker in the Athens suburb of Piraeus who earns €900 a month.
As the protesters tried to break through a police line in front of parliament, they first hurled stones and bottles of water, prompting the riot squad officers to fire back with tear gas.
Full-scale clashes
Full-scale clashes then erupted outside the building, with riot police trying to disperse the crowds with baton-charges.
During the unrest, one protester threw a petrol bomb near parliament.
Youths also went on the rampage in other parts of the capital, with several dozen youths hurling petrol bombs at stores and banks, smashing shop windows and trashing bus shelters with iron bars.
The protesters in Thessaloniki targeted stores and banks in the city centre before they were dispersed by anti-riot police.
Hundreds of thousands of civil servants kicked off the protests on Tuesday and a group of about 200 communists also stormed Athens Acropolis, unfurling banners reading: "Peoples of Europe, Rise Up."
Rich not sacrificing
"The Greek people have been called to make sacrifices while the rich pay nothing," said the head of the million-member strong GSEE private sector union, Giannis Panagopoulos.
A government official downplayed the walkout saying: "For years there's been strikes and protests in this country without much consequence. We're used to it."
Pushed to the brink of default, the government agreed at the weekend to slash spending and jack up taxes in return for €110bn in loans over three years from eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund.
Among the major measures, the government is to cut 13th and 14th month bonus pay for civil servants and retirees; require three years more for pension contributions; and raise the retirement age for women to 65, the same level as men currently.
"Given the scale of the public opposition to the austerity measures it is still unclear whether Greece will ultimately be willing to take years of fiscal punishment and recession to get its fiscal house in order," economist Ben May at Capital Economics said.
Concern over knock-on effect
"Accordingly, it is still unwise to rule out the government eventually defaulting or restructuring its debts."
After months of hesitation, eurozone countries and the IMF agreed to lend Greece billions at below market rates after concerns that the Athens government's debt crisis could trigger a knock-on effect elsewhere.
Fighting accusations of holding up the bailout, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday the Greek crisis marked a turning point for the European Union, urging an overhaul of its fiscal rules.
"The future of Europe, and the future of Germany within Europe, is at stake," she told parliament in a debate on Berlin's unpopular decision to lend €22.4bn in taxpayers' money to Greece.
- SAPA
http://www.news24.com/World/News/Deadly-firebomb-attack-in-Greece-20100505
That and those damn anarchists. They just love stirring up ****e.
