Athens violence enters third day
Pastor Dale Morgan
Athens violence enters third day*
POSTED: 1056 GMT (1856 HKT), January 18, 2007
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Gangs of youths threw rocks and firebombs at a
bank branch and a government office on Thursday, sparking fires on the
third day of street violence in the Greek capital.
The group threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at a bank branch and the
offices of Greece's Competition Commission, damaging one room in the
building before firefighters extinguished the blaze. The fires caused a
major thoroughfare to be closed for several hours, police said.
The youths then took refuge on the grounds of the Athens University of
Economics, near the Athens Polytechnic, which was the scene of violent
clashes with riot police following a Wednesday demonstration against
education reforms. No injuries or arrests were reported.
Under Greek law, police cannot enter university campuses without
permission. Rioters often exploit this liberal asylum rule to avoid
arrest by taking refuge within their grounds.
After Wednesday's rally, rioters torched several cars, smashed bank
windows and pelted riot police with rocks.
Such incidents, mostly by self-styled anarchists, occur frequently in
Greece. The most recent outbreak is widely believed to have been sparked
by widespread anger to government proposals to allow private
universities to operate in Greece.
The proposal has led to numerous teacher strikes, student sit-ins and
protest marches in the past few months. Education has become a crucial
issue for the government, and a focus of criticism for both the
governing conservative and the opposition socialist parties, both of
which support the reforms.