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Three dead after fire-bomb hits bank during Greek riots

A FIRE-BOMB attack on a bank in Athens left at least three people dead as police fought pitched battles with striking protesters furious at brutal spending cuts designed to avoid national bankruptcy.

Hooded youths hurled petrol bombs at stores and businesses in the Greek capital, setting the bank and two government buildings ablaze.

Protesters also tried to storm the Greek Parliament and the rioting spread to Greece's second city, Thessaloniki.

Police said at least three people, a man and two women, were killed in the fire-bomb attack. Firefighters said as many as 20 people had been inside the bank.

It was unclear if the dead were customers or bank employees.

Two buildings, one used by tax officials and another by regional authorities, also caught fire.

Greek President Carolos Papoulias condemned the violence, saying the debt-hit country had "reached the edge of the abyss".

"Our country has reached the edge of the abyss. It is the responsibility of us all to not take the step into the void.

"What is at stake in coming days is to keep social cohesion and social peace."

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said the firebombing was a "raw murderous act".

Athens underground stations were shuttered and the international airport deserted as tens of thousands of union members rallied on the eve of a vote in parliament on the planned cuts and tax hikes.

The general strike was the first major test of the Socialist government's resolve to push through unprecedented measures since agreeing a €110 billion ($158 billion) EU and IMF debt bailout over the weekend.

Prime Minister George Papandreou's insistence that the measures are vital for the nation's survival failed to dissuade unions from paralysing public transport, grounding air traffic and preventing ferries from leaving docks.

After rallying in two separate demonstrations in central Athens, members of the main unions began converging on parliament, where the Government was preparing for the measures to be voted on Thursday.

Baton charges

"They're taking everything from me, I don't know how I'm going to get by," said 61-year-old Anargyros Bizianis, a municipal worker in the Athens suburb of Piraeus who earns €900 a month.

As the protesters tried to break through a police line in front of the Parliament, they first hurled stones and bottles of water, prompting the riot squad officers to fire back with tear gas.

Full-scale clashes then erupted outside the building, with riot police trying to disperse the crowds with baton charges.

During the unrest, one protester threw a petrol bomb near the Parliament.

Youths also went on the rampage in other parts of the capital, with several dozen youths hurling petrol bombs at stores and banks, smashing shop windows and trashing bus shelters with iron bars.

The protesters in Thessaloniki targeted stores and banks in the city center before they were dispersed by the anti-riot police.

Hundreds of thousands of civil servants kicked off the protests and a group of about 200 communists also stormed Athens Acropolis, unfurling banners reading "Peoples of Europe, Rise Up".

A government official downplayed the walkout, saying that "for years there's been strikes and protests in this country without much consequence. We're used to it."

"Given the scale of the public opposition to the austerity measures, it is still unclear whether Greece will ultimately be willing to take years of fiscal punishment and recession to get its fiscal house in order," economist Ben May at Capital Economics said.

"Accordingly, it is still unwise to rule out the Government eventually defaulting or restructuring its debts."

After months of hesitation, eurozone countries and the IMF agreed to lend Greece billions at below market rates after concerns that the Athens government's debt crisis could trigger a knock-on effect elsewhere.

Fighting accusations of holding up the bailout, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said today that the Greek crisis marked a turning point for the European Union, urging an overhaul of its fiscal rules.

"The future of Europe and the future of Germany within Europe is at stake," she told a parliament in a debate on Berlin's unpopular decision to lend €22.4 billion in taxpayers' money to Greece.