ATHENS – Riot police clashed with demonstrators for a fifth day and a general strike paralysed Greece yesterday, piling pressure on the beleaguered conservative government.
Prime minister Costas Karamanlis announced financial support for businesses damaged in the riots and main opposition leader George Papandreou appealed for an end to the violence that has gripped more than 10 Greek cities.
Mr Karamanlis, clinging to a thin parliamentary majority, pledged to safeguard people from violence, but did not say how. Government sources denied rumours that emergency measures were being considered.
Youths lobbed firebombs at police, who returned volleys of tear gas outside Athens polytechnic university, hours after clashes outside parliament following a union rally. “Participation in the strike is total, the country has come to a standstill,” said union spokesman Stathis Anestis.Foreign and domestic flights were grounded, banks and schools were shut, and hospitals ran on emergency services as hundreds of thousands of Greeks walked off the job. Unions say privatisations, tax rises and changes in pension entitlements have worsened conditions, especially for the one-fifth who live below the poverty line. – (Reuters)