Students pelted police with firebombs and stones in Athens in new clashes that first broke out over the police killing of a teenager. Students, angry at the shooting incident, low wages and unemployment, attacked police outside the parliament building on a seventh day of violence that has shaken the government. Riot police fired teargas in response.Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis pledged to guarantee the safety of its people and citizens. “Greece is a safe country,” he told a news conference in Brussels. Riots since the December 6 shooting of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos have destroyed hundreds of shops, banks and cars, rattled the conservative government and shaken investor confidence in the 240 billion euro economy ($315 billion) as the global crisis bites. Even as Karamanlis spoke in Brussels, about 5,000 protesters marched through Athens carrying banners saying:
“The state kills” and “The government is guilty of murder.” “We do not expect investors to forget this situation quickly,” said David Keeble, head of fixed income research at Calyon Bank. Greece’s debt almost equals its economic output. Karamanlis said Greece was weathering the credit crunch better than other EU members and sent a message to markets that, despite the crisis, the economy was solid. “Greece is covering and will (continue) to cover its borrowing needs smoothly,” he said.
The killing of Grigoropoulos ignited simmering anger over a series of scandals, unpopular reforms and misfired economic measures as the credit crunch reached Greece. Police sources say they are running out of teargas after using more than 4,600 capsules in the last week and have urgently contacted Israel and Germany for more stocks. “Everyone wants this government of murderers to fall. The government in four years has only carried out reforms against students,” said Maria Tsoupri, 22. “We don’t see a future. We have a future only through struggle.”
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