Greek Students, Police Clash In Central Athens

The demonstration, the latest in a series of protests, comes after almost two weeks of civil disobedience following the shooting by police of a 15-year-old boy.

Thursday's violence began as protesters confronted police in the city's central square outside the parliament building, taunting police and carrying banners that read "Down with the regime of murderers." The confrontation then escalated as protesters hurled stones and paint at riot police, who responded with volleys of stun grenades and tear gas.

At one point, police rushed to surround the city's Christmas tree in the square after protesters attempted to set it afire. Protesters torched the square's first Christmas tree last week.

The demonstrators then moved on to the central district close to the university, overturning cars, smashing windows and setting light to trash bins around the capital in running street battles with police. Local media reported that at least three automobiles were burned, including a security van that protesters tried to push toward the police but rolled into an apartment block instead.

"I think the violence is mainly the action of a few thousand hard-core protesters," an Athens University professor said by telephone from one of the buildings surrounded by the protests. "Nevertheless, things look pretty bad."

The protests also coincided with a series of labor protests as hundreds of thousands of Greek public sector workers walked off the job Thursday as part of a four-hour work stoppage to protest the 2009 budget, currently being debated in parliament.

That work stoppage has already led to dozens of flights being canceled or rescheduled by Greece's two main carriers - Olympic Airlines and Aegean Airlines SA (AEGN.AT) - while a separate, 24-hour strike by health care workers left public hospitals operating on skeleton staffs.

"We are protesting the 2009 budget, but also the recent killing of the 15-year-old student," said Spyros Papaspyros, president of the public sector umbrella union ADEDY, which represents some 550,000 public sector workers. "This budget cuts wages, increases inequality and reduces social spending."

The 2009 budget is expected to be voted on in parliament Sunday evening at around midnight local time (2200 GMT). Although it is likely to be passed by the ruling New Democracy party's slim one-seat majority, the recent events have shaken the government, which has come under criticism for not doing more to stem the violence in the streets.

"The government has completely lost control of events," Socialist deputy Evangelos Venizelos of the main opposition party said in parliament.

With tensions already high in the Greek capital, police reported earlier in the day that a second youth had been shot - not fatally - in a working class Peristeri district of Athens.

Although the police have denied involvement in the shooting, police sources fear fresh violence could break out in the district as dark falls on the Greek capital.

    DJG/csl