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Rioting May Topple Greek Government

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 10, 2008

ATHENS - Masked youths and looters marauded through Greek cities for a fourth night Tuesday in an explosion of rage triggered by the police shooting of a teenager that has unleashed the most violent riots in a quarter century.

The nightly scenes of burning street barricades, looted stores and overturned cars have threatened to topple the country's increasingly unpopular conservative government, which faces mounting calls for Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis to resign.

Police fired tear gas at protesters after the funeral of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos, who was laid to rest in an Athens burial attended by about 6,000 people.

The rioting - which has engulfed cities from Thessaloniki in the north to the holiday island of Corfu and Crete in the south - threatens the 52-year-old Karamanlis, who already faced growing dissatisfaction over financial and social reforms at a time of deep anxiety amid growing economic gloom.

Opposition Socialist leader George Papandreou called for early elections, charging the conservatives were incapable of defending the public from rioters.

"The government cannot handle this crisis and has lost the trust of the Greek people," Papandreou said. "The best thing it can do is resign and let the people find a solution ... We will protect the public."

The call was echoed by protesters, who, though they have not voiced any particular policy goals, say they want Karamanlis out.

The Associated Press

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