Three dead as Greece protest turns violent

At least three people have been killed in the Greek capital as protesters set fire to a bank during a general strike over planned austerity measures।

The fire brigade said three bodies were found inside the Marfin Bank in Athens. Two other buildings are also on fire.

Petrol bombs were thrown at police who responded with pepper spray, tear gas and stun grenades.

Protesters are angered by spending cuts and tax rises planned in return for a 110bn euro (£95bn) bail-out for Greece.

Parliament is to vote on the measures by the end of the week.

Measures include wage freezes, pension cuts and tax rises. They aim to achieve fresh budget cuts of 30bn euros over three years, with the goal of cutting Greece's public deficit to less than 3% of GDP by 2014. It currently stands at 13.6%.

Outside parliament, a group of protesters rushed up a flight of steps, taunting MPs to come out and calling them "thieves".

Riot police forced them back, but right next to parliament, others groups set buildings on fire - including a tax office.

The Greek protesters' ire is aimed against symbols of capitalism, says the BBC's Malcolm Brabant in Athens.

Our correspondent says the deaths will change the equation, increasing pressure Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou who has spoken of "great sacrifices" needed.

But it may also create a backlash against violent protesters, our correspondent says.

The general strike is the third to hit Greece in as many months.

Quite simply Europe's future is at stake. Europe is at a fork in the road German Chancellor Angela Merkel Merkel urges support for Greece

Meanwhile, the German parliament has begun considering the bail-out plan for Greece.

Chancellor Angela Merkel urged MPs to back the emergency loan package agreed by European finance ministers at the weekend.

It requires Germany to pay the largest proportion of the loans.

"Quite simply, Europe's future is at stake," she said.

The EU has agreed to provide 80bn euros (£69bn) in funding - of which around 22bn euros would come from Germany - while the rest will come from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

'Concern'

Flights in and out of Greece stopped at midnight, and trains and ferries were not running. Schools, hospitals, and many offices are shut.

The government has appealed to demoralised staff in the military, police, schools and hospitals not to retire, fearing the surge in demand for benefits could further drain treasury resources.

I'm feeling more and more angry every day, because those who got us into this mess are not held responsible Thrasyvo Paxinos Teacher

Foreign governments and investors are watching events in Greece with concern.

Chris Lowe of FTN Financial in New York told the BBC that the US financial community had been shocked by the violent protests.

"The [US] reaction is that [Greek] people will simply refuse to accept the austerity plan," he said.

"If the Greeks are this upset, then maybe we need to worry about the Portuguese and Spanish and Italians being upset with the cuts they're going to have to make."

Union leaders say the cuts target low-income Greeks.

"There are other things the [government] can do, before taking money from a pensioner who earns 500 euros (£430) a month," Spyros Papaspyros, leader of the public servants' union ADEDY, told Greek private television.

What went wrong in Greece? Greece's economic reforms that led to it abandoning the drachma in favour of the euro in 2002 made it easier for the country to borrow money. Greece went on a debt-funded spending spree, including high-profile projects such as the 2004 Athens Olympics, which went well over budget. It was hit by the downturn, which meant it had to spend more on benefits and received less in taxes. There were also doubts about the accuracy of its economic statistics. Greece's economic problems meant lenders started charging higher interest rates to lend it money and widespread tax evasion also hit the government's coffers. There have been demonstrations against the government's austerity measures to deal with its 300bn euro (£267bn) debt, such as cuts to public sector pay. Now the government has announced that it needs to access the 30bn euros (£26bn) in emergency loans it has been offered by other EU countries. In Athens, Greeks spoke of their anger at the tough economic measures. Businessman Dmitris Mentis told the BBC that wealthy Greeks had to pay their "fair share of the burden". "The rich class has been evading taxes for decades now," he said. Athens-based journalist Christos Michaelides told the BBC: "There is a big fear in the whole of society - a sense of injustice in most of the measures. "There is a fear that things could get very, very ugly if people don't feel that what they are doing now, in these austerity measures, is going to be worthwhile." On Tuesday, several thousand teachers and students marched to parliament carrying black flags and banners. The demonstration was largely peaceful but some scuffles broke out near the parliament building। Original

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8661385.stm