14/12/2008 09:52 - (SA)
Athens - Rioting youths in the Greek capital attacked a police station, stores and banks and fought running battles with police late on Saturday, authorities said, as violent protests against a police killing continued for the eighth straight day. The clashes broke out as candlelit vigils were being held to mark a week since the police shooting of a 15-year-old boy, which triggered the riots that are threatening the stability of the government. At 01:00 police suddenly charged a peaceful candlelight vigil in Syntagma Square, in central Athens, when the crowd of several hundred people refused to back off its position near Parliament. The protesters retreated but the tense confrontation continued. Youths - some on foot, others riding motorcycles - attacked a police station with petrol bombs in central Athens as well as at least three banks, several stores and a government building, police said.
Largely peaceful
Several hundred protesters set up burning barricades and attacked police with rocks and flares. Riot police fired tear gas and chased the youths through parts of the city. The protesters chanted "murderers out" and used laser pointers to target police for attack.
Violence has wracked Greece every day since the death of teenager Alexandros Grigoropoulos. The riots in cities throughout the country have left at least 70 people injured. Hundreds of stores have been smashed and looted, and more than 200 people have been arrested.
While most of the protesters have been peaceful, the tone of the demonstrations has been set by a violent fringe. And more young people have been willing to join those fringe elements than in the past.
Hundreds of schoolchildren holding candles gathered peacefully Saturday outside parliament and at the site where the teenager was shot. At the latter site, hundreds of masked self-styled anarchists gathered among the largely peaceful crowd and, on leaving, clashed with riot police which, in turn, used copious amounts of tear gas to clear the area.
Some of the rioters entered the National Technical University nearby from which they pelted police with rocks and flares.
Outside parliament, they left candles spelling out the name "Alex" in front of a line of riot policemen.
Not backing down
The young protesters promised to remain on the streets until their concerns - including opposition to increasingly unpopular government and worry over economic issues - are addressed.
The two officers involved in the boy's shooting have been arrested. One was charged with murder and the other as an accomplice. The circumstances surrounding the shooting remain unclear.
Giorgos Kyrtsos, publisher of the City Press and Free Sunday newspapers, said the violent demonstrations revealed widespread public discontent.
"We are entering a long period of economic crisis," Kyrtsos said. "But there is also a deepening social crisis, combined with a weakened state. We are truly at a crossroads."
"This is the only government I remember that has managed to alienate both the rebellious youth and the law-and-order crowd," he said. "It has nothing to offer to anybody."
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