Athens burns AGAIN

Rioters set fire to buildings and battled police in downtown Athens as the Greek Parliament prepared to vote on Prime Minister Lucas Papademos's $160 billion austerity package to avert the nation's collapse.

Up to seven buildings - including a Starbucks cafe, a bank and a cinema, as well as other stores in downtown Athens - were set on fire, a fire department spokesman said, speaking on the condition of anonymity in line with official policy.

The buildings were near a bank that was set on fire in May 2010, killing three bank employees, during a general strike against Greece's first bailout package.

Greek police fired tear gas at petrol bomb-throwing protesters outside parliament, where tens of thousands had massed.

Police said some 80,000 protesters had gathered outside the building where debate on the plan imposed by the country's international creditors - the EU, the IMF and the European Central Bank - was ongoing before a late-night vote.

Protesters say austerity package is blackmail

In the country's second city Thessaloniki, about 20,000 protesters took to the streets to protest against the austerity package they described as blackmail, which needs to be approved by parliament if Greece is to receive a 130 billion euro ($160 billion) bailout.

The unrest in Athens started when a group on Syntagma square tried to muscle past the police cordon protecting the parliament building.

Riot police retaliated with tear gas grenades, scattering protesters into nearby streets where they hurled rocks and molotov cocktails at the security forces.

People wearing masks smashed shop windows along two major avenues while a bank was set on fire, police said.

Sunday's protesters included trade unionists, youths with shaven heads waving Greek flags, communist activists and left-wing sympathisers, many of them equipped with gas masks.

Syntagma square was shrouded in a thick cloud of tear gas. One elderly Greek man could be seen among the demonstrators, breathing through a gas mask and wearing swimming goggles.

But while dispersing into nearby streets initially, the crowd soon returned onto the square, with families among the tens of thousands that had gathered.

A man was seen hawking paper masks - as some form of protection against the tear gas - as well as Greek flags.

'We will be the Germans' slaves'

Against the wall of the central bank, the word "Greece" was painted in black and replaced by "Bank of Berlin", alluding to the impression among Greeks that Germany is dictating the painful austerity measures.

"It's not easy to live in these conditions," said 49-year-old engineer Andreas Maragoudakis. "By 2020 we will be the Germans' slaves."

Another protester, Stella Maguina, 33, said: "We are here for our parents and our children, for all those who can't come."

Civil engineer Anastasia Papadaki, 27 said "the measures are not the solutions to the problem as they will not bring growth.

"It's just the international community blackmailing us."

"Enough is enough!" said 89-year-old Manolis Glezos, one of Greece's most famous leftists.

"They have no idea what an uprising by the Greek people means. And the Greek people, regardless of ideology, have risen."

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/world-business/athens-burns-as-protesters-run-riot-ahead-of-160-billion-bailout-vote-20120213-1t07t.html#ixzz1mCdtNmhz

After days of dire warnings and threats of rebellion, the process started of setting out 3.3billion euros ($2.76billion) in wage, pension and job cuts as the price of a 130billion euro rescue package from the European Union and International Monetary Fund - Greece's second since 2010.

Greece needs the funds before March 20 to meet debt repayments of 14.5billion euros.

But the bill has caused turmoil within the ruling coalition and deepened a social crisis among Greeks already hit by a round of cuts and tax hikes to ease the country's huge debt burden.

During the debate a Communist Party deputy hurled the pages of the bill on the floor of the chamber and in fiery exchanges with lawmakers, Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos warned them: 'If the law is not passed, the country will go bankrupt.'

He said the vote in the 300-seat parliament, which began shortly after 2pm (12pm GMT), had to come by midnight 'because come Monday morning, banking and financial markets must get the message that Greece can and will survive.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2100099/Athens-protests-Lawmakers-prepare-endorse-austerity-measures-Greece.html#ixzz1mCgaLVM2
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