Greek police fired teargas at small groups of protesters who threw stones and firebombs in central Athens today in a second week of anti-government demonstrations since a policeman shot dead a teenager.
Youths outside Athens' main court and central police station clashed with riot police, while acts of vandalism against shops were reported in two northern cities in protests against the December 6 killing of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos. His death has triggered Greece's worst riots in decades.
The unrest, which has caused more than €200 million worth of damage, has fed on anger over political scandals, high youth unemployment and low wages, and the impact of a global recession on Greece.
The scale of the Greek protests has tailed off sharply in recent days and Athens was peaceful yesterday, but students and police exchanged firebombs and teargas today and more rallies have been called for Thursday and Friday against education and pension reforms, privatisations and tax rises as the budget goes to parliament.
The conservative government only has a one-seat majority and trails in polls.
Central Athens is braced for further violence later today, when an anarchist group plans to march on parliament.
The tourist industry worries that more unrest will put off foreign visitors and badly hit the sector which accounts for nearly one-fifth of gross domestic product.
Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis's ruling New Democracy party has denounced the riots as the work of a small group of hardcore anarchists, but at their peak early last week thousands of youths ran riot through 10 cities, wrecking hundreds of cars, banks and businesses.
An opinion poll published yesterday by Kathimerininewspaper put disapproval of the government at 68 percent, with 60 percent of those polled saying the riots were a social uprising rather than an outburst by an isolated fringe of violent protesters.
The National Confederation of Commerce estimates 565 shops were damaged in Athens, ruining the Christmas shopping period.
The policeman charged with killing Grigoropoulos has been jailed along with a colleague pending trial. More than 400 protesters have been detained during the unrest, although most of have subsequently been released without charge.
Reuters