ATHENS (Greece) - THOUSANDS of protesters demonstrated in Greece's main cities on Thursday against the police killing of a teenager, while a major labor union staged work stoppages to protest the shooting and the conservative government's economic policies.
In central Athens, fearful shop owners shuttered their store fronts as more than 7,000 students and other protesters marched peacefully, chanting slogans. Some demonstrators painted white crime-scene-style body outlines on the streets.
Athens on new protest alert
ATHENS - GREEK police warned people to stay away from central Athens on Thursday as students prepared new protests over the police killing of a teenager.
Tensions were raised after the 16-year son of a Greek teacher's union official was hit in an air rifle attack on Wednesday night in an Athens suburb.
Riot police kept a low-key presence, and a Christmas carousel on central Syntagma Square was full of children even as the marchers drew close. Earlier, some 1,000 demonstrators joined a Communist Party-backed peaceful march through town.
The death of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos on Dec 6 shocked Greece and led to days of the worst rioting the country has seen in decades. Hundreds of businesses were smashed, burned or looted and gangs of youths fought running battles with riot police firing tear gas every night for a week.
The riots were fed by dissatisfaction with the increasingly unpopular conservative government and widespread anger over social inequality and economic hardship.
'The government has no solution for this problem and we will keep demonstrating until our demands are heard,' said Petros Constantinou, one of the protest organisers. 'We want to see a signal that (the government) is changing course.'
Protests groups have issued various demands, from the disarming of police to greater income support for low-earning families.
Although the extensive violence sparked by the boy's death has abated, sporadic attacks, mainly against police, have continued.
The government appealed for calm after another teenager was shot in the hand late Wednesday near his school. It was unclear who carried out the latest shooting. Police said he appeared to have been shot by a 'firearm,' but gave no other details.
'Luckily he was only lightly injured,' said Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos. 'This incident should lead us to reflect how fragile and valuable our civic order is. It is something we must all defend.' He promised a quick and thorough investigation.
Police spokesman Panayiotis Stathis said no officers had been in the area at the time of the attack. The boy underwent surgery Thursday.
Some 300 people were also marching in heavy rain in Greece's second largest city of Thessaloniki in the north, and similar protests were planned in other cities. No disturbances were reported.
In neighboring Macedonia, a group of civic associations called a demonstration in the capital Skopje late Thursday in solidarity with the Greek protesters.
'We are inviting all people with goodwill who still believe in the power of the ordinary citizen,' said a leaflet distributed by organisers.
Meanwhile, the civil servants' umbrella union, ADEDY, held work stoppages to protest Grigoropoulos' shooting as well as the new state budget, which was being debated in Parliament and is expected to be passed in a vote late Sunday.
As part of the strikes, air traffic controllers walked off the job for three hours, forcing state Olympic Airlines to cancel 28 flights and reschedule another 14.
State hospitals were operating with skeleton staff due to a 24-hour strike. -- AP
