Greek marchers hurled firebombs and stones at police outside parliament on Thursday while unions grounded flights and shut down public offices in a 13th day of anti-government protests since police shot dead a teenager.
Protesters waving red flags jostled with police, who formed a cordon around parliament, and attempted to burn down a Christmas tree in the square outside. Police fired teargas to disperse the crowd.
"Down with the government of blood, poverty and privatisations," read one of the banners carried by some 7,000 marchers in protests against social and economic reforms and the government's failure to shelter Greeks from the global economic crisis which were unleashed by the teenager's killing.
Rallies by unions, students and teachers also took place in the northern city of Thessaloniki and on the island of Crete.
Greece's worst protests in decades, which followed the shooting of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos, fed off anger at the economic slowdown and rising youth unemployment.
They caused hundreds of millions of euros in damage in Athens alone and have shaken the increasingly-unpopular conservative government.
"We are not finished just because it's Christmas. We will continue and intensify our struggle in the next year," said Stathis Anestis, spokesman for the GSEE private sector union federation which took part in the rallies.
A 3-hour work stoppage by public workers halted all but emergency flights between 1000 and 1300 GMT. Urban transport services were frozen while doctors and teachers walked off the job, reviving memories of last week's 24-hour national strike.
TENSIONS IN ATHENS
Adding to tensions in the capital, before further protests planned on Thursday and Friday, police said a 16-year-old had been shot in the hand by an unidentified gunman in Athens late on Wednesday.
"Not only policeman carry guns," said police spokesman Panagiotis Stathis, strongly denying any officers were involved. "There were no policemen there because there was no reason. We are now conducting an investigation to see who was responsible."
The protests have driven Greek bond spreads — a measure of perceived investment risk — to record levels above German benchmark bonds. Government officials say the violence has tarnished Greece's image overseas.
An opinion poll published on Thursday by leftwing newspaper Avgi, conducted after the start of the riots, showed the opposition Pan-Hellenic Socialist Party (PASOK) 6.5 percentage points ahead of the ruling New Democracy party.
The policeman who shot Grigoropoulos has been charged with murder and jailed pending trial, while his partner was charged as an accomplice. He says he fired a warning shot in self-defence against a group of youths but the family's lawyer says he aimed to kill without significant provocation
