Greece: Demonstrators hurl firebombs at riot police
Demonstrators threw Molotov cocktail firebombs and torched a security van during an education rally in downtown Athens today, leading riot police to respond with tear gas.
A breakaway group of youths threw firebombs in central Constitution Square in front of the parliament building.
A short time later, youths burned a van belonging to a private security company near the Athens Polytechnic campus.
Riot police fired volleys of tear gas in an attempt to quell the violence.
The disturbances marred a public march involving about 9,000 university students, schoolchildren and teachers that coincided with a 24-hour primary and pre-school teachers’ strike and a half-day sympathy walkout by civil servants.
Today marked the teachers’ first work stoppage since their unions called off a six-week-long walkout on October 30.
They have been demanding hefty increases in starting salaries, currently around £600 a month, and will strike again on November 9.
Secondary school teachers also participated in the marches in Athens and in other major cities, although their unions decided not to join either strike.
