News Service from House Harris

EUR: General strike cripples Greece after new riots, protests

ATHENS, Dec 10 AFP - Thousands of protesters gathered in the centre of Athens on Wednesday as a general strike brought Greece to a standstill after a fourth night of street battles sparked by the police killing of a schoolboy.

As two police officers implicated in the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos prepared to go before a magistrate, fighting in Athens, western Patras and northern Salonika raged until the early hours.

With anger towards the police compounded by frustration towards conservate Prime Costas Karamanlis, thousands of activists then gathered in downtown Athens in mid-morning to demand that the government stand down.

"Sack Karamanlis," chanted the protesters, saying he headed a "Killing state", as the largest group, uniting students and teachers, marched towards the national parliament building.

"This death was the catalyst for many grievances," said 18-year-old farming student George Tzouvelekis, one of the protesters.

"Look how the banks are being attacked, because they have refused to lower interest rates amid the economic crisis.... Everybody is fed up."

With the general strike hitting banks, public transport and flights in and out of the country, the wider economic damage from the unrest was now compounding the loss to property from outbreaks of looting.

Sixteen Greeks and 25 migrants were arrested during clashes and looting in the streets around the Athens Polytechnic overnight, which has been occupied by protesters since Sunday.

Educational establishments offer legal sanctuary in a constitutional legacy of the backlash against 1970s military dictatorship.

Demonstrators holed up in the symbolic university -- at the heart of 1973 student protests which helped trigger the dictatorship's downfall -- set fire to surrounding streets as firebombs rained down on security forces outside.

The fights only abated at around 3am (1200 AEDT), with a post office, a bank and a tourist office in the centre of Athens also damaged by rioters.

Some of the worst of the violence was in Patras, with at least 500 protesters laying siege to the police headquarters throughout the evening and scores continuing to goad security forces well into the middle of the night.

More than 80 shops and 14 banks were damaged during violence in Salonika while eight people were arrested.

The latest clashes followed street battles on Tuesday close to the cemetery where Grigoropoulos was buried, as youths hurled rocks and petrol bombs at officers in full riot gear, who responded with tear gas.

Hundreds of protesters went on to raid stores in Nea Smyrni, south of central Athens, with locals later saying police who chased a series of groups of demonstrators for hours fired their weapons into the air.

Police said on Wednesday they were investigating these reports, although a spokesman stated that such action is within the permitted rules of engagement.

Sixteen Greeks and 25 migrants were arrested on Wednesday during the fighting, many of whom were to be charged with looting offences.

Unions ignored a call on Tuesday from Karamanlis to cancel the protests "as extremists could exploit them... to continue their violent and destructive activity".

Greece is awaiting a potentially incendiary ballistics report expected to shed light on whether the gunshot that killed the teenager on Saturday was the result of a ricochet, as the officer has stated.

In a televised address on Tuesday, Karamanlis blamed running battles between protesters and security forces on the "enemies of democracy".

The opposition has renewed calls for the government's resignation, saying it cannot guarantee its citizens' safety.

It comes at the worst possible time for the Greek government, its majority having been trimmed to a single member in the 300-seat parliament following a financial scandal involving property deals.