But other unions called for more action in a series of strikes by public transport workers and farmers which have underscored Greeks’ anger at austerity measures.

Hundreds of people jostled for free vegetables handed out by farmers in a symbolic protest earlier on Wednesday, trampling one man and prompting an outcry over the growing desperation created by economic crisis.

Images of people struggling to seize bags of tomatoes and leeks thrown from a truck dominated television, triggering a bout of soul-searching over the new depths of poverty in the debt-laden country.

“These images make me angry. Angry for a proud people who have no food to eat, who can’t afford to keep warm, who can’t make ends meet,” said Kostas Barkas, a lawmaker from the leftist Syriza party.

Other lawmakers from across the political spectrum decried the images “of people on the brink of despair” and the sense of “sadness for a proud people who have ended up like this”.

People have seen their living standards crumble as the country faces its sixth year of recession that has driven unemployment to record highs.

Greece has been forced to push through painful wage and pension cuts demanded by its European Union and International Monetary Fund lenders as the price of bailout funds to avert bankruptcy.

FARMERS ANGRY

Greek ships sailed again from the busy ports of Piraeus and Rafina on Wednesday after the government ordered seamen to end a six-day strike aimed at securing wages and union rights.

At dawn, smiling passengers who had been stranded at Piraeus carried their luggage across the port, relieved to be boarding the ships.

But in northern and central Greece, farmers protesting high production costs and fuel prices placed their tractors on the sides of highways, threatening to block the country’s main road artery if not satisfied.

In the capital, bus and trolleybus workers held a four-hour work stoppage, as did journalists at state broadcasters.

The free food handout in Athens began peacefully as hundreds of Greeks lined up in advance outside the agriculture ministry, where protesting farmers laid out tables piled high with produce, giving away 50 metric tonnes (55.11 tons) of produce in under two hours.

Tensions flared when the stalls ran out of produce and dozens of people – some carrying small children – rushed to a truck and shoved each other out of the way in the competition for what was left.

One man was treated for injuries after being trampled when he fell to the ground in the commotion.

“I never imagined that I would end up here,” said Panagiota Petropoulos, 65, who struggles to get by on her 530-euro monthly pension while paying 300 euros in rent.

“I can’t afford anything, not even at the fruit market. Everything is expensive, prices of everything are going up while our income is going down and there are no jobs.”

(Additional reporting by John Kolesidis and Tatiana Fragou; Writing by Karolina Tagaris)

About 5,000 immigrants and human rights activists later gathered in the city’s central Omonia square, police said, to demonstrate against racism, holding banners reading “Neo-Nazis out” and “Punishment for the fascist murderers of Shehzad Luqman”.

The 27-year-old Pakistani was stabbed to death by two men on a motorcycle as he rode his bicycle to work in an Athens suburb in the early hours of Wednesday, in an attack police say may have been racially motivated.

“Perhaps his murder will bring hope that these attacks will stop. We are protesting for the government to take measures to stop racist attacks,” Javied Aslam, head of the Pakistani Community organization told Reuters, as about 300 Pakistani immigrants gathered outside city hall with the coffin.

Greece is a gateway for mostly Asian and African migrants trying to enter the European Union through its porous sea and land borders each year. They face rising hostility during the country’s worst economic downturn in six decades.

“Greek people have fought against fascism,” said Reza Golami, spokesman for the union of Afghans in Greece. “It is our duty to continue our struggle. Democracy was born in this country, it must not die here”.

A police official told Reuters earlier this week a 25-year-old and a 29-year-old firefighter had admitted to stabbing Luqman in the chest following a drunken argument.

ATTACKS RISE

Police discovered dozens of pamphlets of the ultra-nationalist Golden Dawn party in the home of one of the attackers.

Golden Dawn, which says it wants to rid Greece of illegal immigrants, won 7 percent of the vote in parliamentary elections last June, entering the assembly for the first time on its fiercely anti-immigrant agenda.

Recent opinion polls show it ranks third among Greek political parties, with support at 10.7 to 12 percent.

The U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, says racist attacks have risen to alarming levels during the crisis, which has made more than one in four Greeks unemployed and eroded living standards, with authorities doing little to tackle the problem.

Rights groups say most victims are attacked in public spaces such as squares or on public transport, usually by groups of men dressed in black and at times with their faces covered.

Amnesty International said Luqman’s killing was not an isolated incident but showed a “continuing failure” of the Greek authorities to take action to put an end to racist violence.

(Writing by George Georgiopoulos; Editing by Sophie Hares)

About 3,000 immigrants and human rights activists later gathered in the city’s central Omonia square to demonstrate against racism, holding banners reading “Neo-Nazis out” and “Punishment for the fascist murderers of Shehzad Luqman”.

The 27-year-old Pakistani was stabbed to death by two men on a motorcycle as he rode his bicycle to work in an Athens suburb in the early hours of Wednesday, in an attack police say may have been racially motivated.

“Perhaps his murder will bring hope that these attacks will stop. We are protesting for the government to take measures to stop racist attacks,” Javied Aslam, head of the Pakistani Community organization told Reuters, as about 300 Pakistani immigrants gathered outside city hall with the coffin.

Greece is a gateway for mostly Asian and African migrants trying to enter the European Union through its porous sea and land borders each year. They face rising hostility during the country’s worst economic downturn in six decades.

A police official told Reuters earlier this week a 25-year-old and a 29-year-old firefighter had admitted to stabbing Luqman in the chest following a drunken argument.

Police discovered dozens of pamphlets of the ultra-nationalist Golden Dawn party in the home of one of the attackers.

Golden Dawn, which says it wants to rid Greece of illegal immigrants, won 7 percent of the vote in parliamentary elections last June, entering the assembly for the first time on its fiercely anti-immigrant agenda.

Recent opinion polls show it ranks third among Greek political parties, with support at 10.7 to 12 percent.

The U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, says racist attacks have risen to alarming levels during the crisis, which has made more than one in four Greeks unemployed and eroded living standards, with authorities doing little to tackle the problem.

Rights groups say most victims are attacked in public spaces such as squares or on public transport, usually by groups of men dressed in black and at times with their faces covered.

Amnesty International said Luqman’s killing was not an isolated incident but showed a “continuing failure” of the Greek authorities to take action to put an end to racist violence.

(Writing by George Georgiopoulos; Editing by Sophie Hares)

But seven years later, his dream of a bonanza with sun-seeking tourists is in ruins as the country’s debt crisis has deepened, sparking talk of a Greek exit from the euro and social unrest that has begun to scare off visitors.

“Germans have been good friends of Greek tourism but they’re afraid to come over now,” said Minadakis, his eyes fixed on empty sunbeds around a pool at his Olympia Riviera Resort that boasts four hotels and a beach that is 1.2 miles long (2km).

“This will be a very tough year. The hurdles we are facing are huge,” he said, adding that he had suffered a 25 percent drop in bookings this year and received 50 percent fewer visitors from Germany, Greece’s biggest tourist market.

Tourism, which slumped by 25 percent in 2009-2010 only to rebound last year, is crucial to Greece’s economy, accounting for 15 percent of its output and one in five jobs in a country where unemployment has hit a record high of 21 percent.

Greece’s sandy resorts, azure waters and ancient temples remain popular, but will not, it seems, be enough to pull it out of a fifth year of recession.

Andreas Andreadis, the head of Greece’s tourism enterprises association (SETE), said he feared revenues would plunge this year. “We will see a considerable drop,” he told Reuters. “A negative number, something like 10-15 percent.”

The pain is already being felt – tourist receipts for the first quarter tumbled by 15.1 percent to 396.3 million euros from 466.7 million euros, the Bank of Greece said.

The Greek tourism minister held a brainstorming session with industry officials last week to try to draw up an anti-crisis plan and later said the state needed to spend more on advertising to attract last-minute bookings.

Separately, Greek and European tourist operators are mounting their own publicity and price-cutting campaigns.

“We are trying to save what can be saved,” said Yannis Retsos, head of the hoteliers’ association. “Anything close to a 10 percent revenue drop would be a success.”

POLITICAL TURMOIL

Last month’s inconclusive parliamentary election, which left the country without a government and saw a party intent on renegotiating an international bailout that has kept the country afloat come second, increased the uncertainty.

Days after the election, reservations slumped by 50 percent. A repeat election on June 17 that may determine Greece’s future in the euro – during what is the first month of the lucrative tourist season – has hoteliers and travel agents on edge.

Retsos said the uncertainty was damaging tourism and that the country needed a stable government to restore confidence.

The battle now was to contain losses, he added.

“We’ve already lost half of the season and are fighting for July, August and September,” he said.

International media reports reflecting growing resentment against Germany among ordinary people, political pundits and the popular press, coupled with warnings that anti-austerity strikes and protests could disrupt people’s holidays, are not helping.

“I was a bit anxious coming here because of what the media reported about Greeks hating Germans,” said Britta Missler, a German tourist. “When I go back to Germany I’ll tell everybody there is no need to worry.”

About 2.2 million Germans visited Greece last year, but many now appear to be plumping for other destinations such as Spain or Turkey. Athens, where about a dozen hotels have shut down, and other big cities have been hardest hit.

“The German-Greek relation problem is huge. Only time can fix what’s broken,” said Retsos.

Last month, TUI Germany advised Greece-bound customers to take more cash in euros after its travel agents reported a surge in questions from customers about what would happen if Greece were to exit the euro and reintroduce the drachma.

“My friends said I’m crazy to come to Greece,” said 35-year old Robert Leoniuk from Poland, who was staying at the Olympia Riviera resort with his wife and three-year-old son, and said he had taken a wad of euros with him just in case.

FIGHT BACK

Only last year, Greece was celebrating a record 16.5 million tourists – after two difficult years – as cheaper fares and upheaval in Egypt and Tunisia made it a popular destination.

That had raised hopes that the sector was on the road to recovery and might even be able to save the sickly economy.

A rise in visitors from Eastern Europe, Russia and Israel may help make up for the loss of tourists from Germany and Britain, but industry officials fear it will not be enough.

Domestic tourism – which accounts for up to 25 percent of total tourism revenues – is unlikely to save the day. Greeks’ incomes are being severely squeezed as they reel from salary and pension cuts, layoffs and tax rises,

In the heart of Monemvasia, a town on the southeastern Peloponnese peninsula with a medieval fortress and Venetian style homes, Anastassia Livieratou keeps the family tradition of making silver jewelry inspired by local history and life alive.

“We have no Greek clients anymore. They cannot afford to buy anything,” said Livieratou gazing at a deserted street through the window of her empty shop. “It’s a lost year for us.”

(Writing by Renee Maltezou; Editing by Andrew Osborn and Mark Heinrich)

Little more than an obscure fringe group barely a year ago, the party is set to blow past estimates and enter parliament for the first time with as much as 8 percent of the vote.

That would make the group – which denies it is neo-Nazi – one of the biggest winners in an election where the main conservative and Socialist parties are taking a drubbing over their support for a bailout tied to austerity measures.

Flanked by burly, muscular men in tight black t-shirts, Golden Dawn leader Nikolaos Mihaloliakos marched down the street in Athens yelling “liars” and “You must be ashamed for all your lies!” at foreign journalists following him.

“Greece is only the beginning,” he shouted at them. When asked what that meant, he said: “You know very well”, wagging a finger at the television camera.

As they strode to the hotel, his supporters began chanting “Greece belongs to Greeks” and “Foreigners get out of Greece”.

When asked what his first action in parliament would be, Mihaloliakos said: “All the illegal immigration out! Out of my country, out of my home!”

Asked how he planned to carry that out, he angrily said: “Use your imagination”.

As he entered the news conference, party members ordered assembled journalists to stand to attention. His party’s flag – featuring an ancient Greek symbol resembling the Nazi swastika set against a red background – hung in the background.

“I’ll say one thing: ‘Veni, Vidi, Vici’,” Mihaloliakos said from the podium, surrounded by his bodyguards sitting motionless with their arms crossed.

“You defamed me, you shut my mouth – I won.”

“BRAVE BOYS”

With 63 percent of the vote counted, Golden Dawn had nabbed a 6.9 percent share, potentially giving it 21 deputies in parliament, making it the first time such a party would be in parliament since the fall of a military dictatorship in 1974.

In the last election, it took just 0.23 percent of the vote.

Pledging to “clean up” Greece by expelling all legal and illegal immigrants, the party has won voters worried about rising crime levels at a time of deep recession.

The group has also developed a benevolent image in some Athens’ neighborhoods by dropping off food to needy families and escorting elderly residents to bank ATMs.

“We will continue our struggle for a free Greece, free from foreign loan sharks and a Greece that is independent and proud, without the slavery of the bailout,” said Mihaloliakos, who was elected to the Athens city council in 2010.

He promptly gave the Nazi salute on his first appearance there.

“We will struggle for a Greece that is not a social jungle because of the millions of immigrants they brought here without asking us,” he said.

The group – which openly displays books on Aryan supremacy at its party offices – has been frequently linked to racist attacks, but denies beating up migrants.

“This victory is devoted to all the brave boys with the black T-shirts and the white letters reading Golden Dawn,” Mihaloliakos said. “Those who betrayed the motherland – you should be scared now.”

(Writing by Deepa Babington, editing by Mike Peacock)

Cinemas, cafes, shops and banks were set ablaze in central
Athens and black-masked protesters fought riot police outside
parliament before lawmakers voted on the package that demands
deep pay, pension and job cuts — the price of a 130 billion
euro ($172 billion) bailout needed to keep the country afloat.

State television reported the violence spread to the tourist
islands of Corfu and Crete, the northern city of Thessaloniki
and towns in central Greece. Police said 150 shops were looted
in the capital and 34 buildings set ablaze.

Altogether 199 of the 300 lawmakers backed the bill, but 43
deputies from the two parties in the government of Prime
Minister Lucas Papademos, the socialists and conservatives,
rebelled by voting against It. They were immediately expelled by
their parties.

Asian shares and the euro gained modestly on Monday,
relieved by the Greek parliament’s passage of austerity measures
that put the country a step closer to securing a much-needed
bailout fund and avoiding a messy default.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan
edged up as much as 0.3 percent on the news.

The rebellion and street violence foreshadowed the problems
the Greek government faces in implementing the cuts, which
include a 22 percent reduction in the minimum wage — a package
critics say condemns the economy to an ever-deeper downward
spiral.

Papademos, a technocrat brought in to get a grip on the
crisis, denounced the worst breakdown of order since 2008, when
violence gripped Greece for weeks after police shot a
15-year-old schoolboy.

“Vandalism, violence and destruction have no place in a
democratic country and won’t be tolerated,” he told parliament
as it prepared to vote.

“SHORT-TERM SACRIFICES”

But he admitted that imposing the austerity on a nation that
has already endured several years of cuts would be tough.

“The full, timely and effective implementation of the
programme won’t be easy. We are fully aware that the economic
programme means short-term sacrifices for the Greek people,”
Papademos said.

Greece needs the international funds before March 20 to meet
debt repayments of 14.5 billion euros, or suffer a chaotic
default which could shake the entire euro zone.

Outside parliament chaos reigned. A Reuters photographer saw
buildings in Athens engulfed in flames and huge plumes of smoke
rose in the night sky.

“We are facing destruction. Our country, our home, has
become ripe for burning, the centre of Athens is in flames. We
cannot allow populism to burn our country down,” conservative
lawmaker Costis Hatzidakis told parliament.

The air in Syntagma Square outside parliament was thick with
teargas as riot police fought running battles with youths who
smashed marble balustrades and hurled stones and petrol bombs.

Terrified Greeks and tourists fled the rock-strewn streets
and the clouds of stinging gas, cramming into hotel lobbies for
shelter as lines of riot police struggled to contain the mayhem.

State NET television reported that trouble had also broken
out in Heraklion, capital of Crete, as well as the towns of
Volos and Agrinio in central Greece.

On the streets of Athens many businesses were ablaze,
including the neo-classical home to the Attikon cinema dating
from 1870 and a building housing the Asty, an underground cinema
used by the Gestapo as a torture chamber during World War Two.

NO GOOD CHOICES

The EU and IMF say they have had enough of broken promises
and that the funds will be released only with the clear
commitment of Greek political leaders that they will implement
the reforms whoever wins an election potentially in April.

Euro zone paymaster Germany ratcheted up the pressure on
Sunday. “The promises from Greece aren’t enough for us any
more,” German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said in an
interview published in Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

“Greece needs to do its own homework to become competitive,
whether that happens in conjunction with a new rescue programme
or by another route that we actually don’t want to take.”

When asked if that other route meant Greece quitting the
euro zone, Schaeuble said: “That is all in the hands of the
Greeks themselves. But even in the event (Greece leaves the euro
zone), which almost no one assumes will happen, they will still
remain part of Europe.”

The bill sets out 3.3 billion euros ($4.35 billion) of extra
budget cuts for this year alone.

It also provides for a bond swap to ease Greece’s debt
burden by cutting the real value of private-sector investors’
bond holdings by some 70 percent. Greece would have missed a
Feb. 17 deadline to offer a debt “haircut” to private
bondholders if the vote had not been passed.

Many Greeks believe their living standards are collapsing
already and the new measures will deepen their misery.

“Enough is enough!” said 89-year-old Manolis Glezos, one of
Greece’s most famous leftists and a national hero. “They have no
idea what an uprising by the Greek people means. And the Greek
people, regardless of ideology, have risen.”

Glezos is a national hero for sneaking up the Acropolis at
night in 1941 and tearing down a Nazi flag from under the noses
of the German occupiers, raising the morale of Athens residents.

Cinemas, cafes, shops and banks were set ablaze in central Athens and black-masked protesters fought riot police outside parliament before lawmakers voted on the package that demands deep pay, pension and job cuts – the price of a 130 billion euro bailout needed to keep the country afloat.

State television reported the violence spread to the tourist islands of Corfu and Crete, the northern city of Thessaloniki and towns in central Greece. Police said 150 shops were looted in the capital and 34 buildings set ablaze.

Altogether 199 of the 300 lawmakers backed the bill, but 43 deputies from the two parties in the government of Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, the socialists and conservatives, rebelled by voting against. They were immediately expelled by their parties.

The rebellion and street violence foreshadowed the problems the government faces in implementing the cuts, which include a 22 percent reduction in the minimum wage – a package critics say condemns the Greek economy to an ever-deeper downward spiral.

Papademos, a technocrat brought into get a grip on his country’s crisis, denounced the worst breakdown of order since 2008 when violence gripped Greece for weeks after police shot a 15-year-old schoolboy.

“Vandalism, violence and destruction have no place in a democratic country and won’t be tolerated,” he told parliament as it prepared to vote on the new 130 billion euro bailout to save Greece from a chaotic bankruptcy.

“SHORT-TERM SACRIFICES”

But he admitted that imposing the austerity on a nation that has already endured several years of cuts would be tough.

“Ahead of us, we have a complete and credible economic program to exit the fiscal and economic crisis. It is a program which safeguards, more than anything else, the country’s place in the euro,” he said.

“The full, timely and effective implementation of the program won’t be easy. We are fully aware that the economic program means short term sacrifices for the Greek people.”

Greece needs the international funds before March 20 to meet debt repayments of 14.5 billion euros, or suffer a chaotic default which could shake the entire euro zone.

Outside parliament chaos reigned. A Reuters photographer saw buildings in Athens engulfed in flames and huge plumes of smoke rose in the night sky.

“We are facing destruction. Our country, our home, has become ripe for burning, the center of Athens is in flames. We cannot allow populism to burn our country down,” conservative lawmaker Costis Hatzidakis told parliament.

The air in Syntagma Square outside parliament was thick with tear gas as riot police fought running battles with youths who smashed marble balustrades and hurled stones and petrol bombs.

Terrified Greeks and tourists fled the rock-strewn streets and the clouds of stinging gas, cramming into hotel lobbies for shelter as lines of riot police struggled to contain the mayhem.

State NET television reported that trouble had also broken out in Heraklion, capital of Crete, as well as the towns of Volos and Agrinio in central Greece.

On the streets of Athens many businesses were ablaze, including the neo-classical home to the Attikon cinema dating from 1870 and a building housing the Asty, an underground cinema used by the Gestapo during World War Two as a torture chamber.

As fighting raged for hours, protesters threw bombs made from gas canisters as riot police advanced across the square on the crowds, firing tear gas and stun grenades. Loud booms from the protests could be heard inside parliament.

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Interactive timeline link.reuters.com/muq56s

Euro zone crisis in graphics r.reuters.com/hyb65p

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NO GOOD CHOICES

Before the vote, Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos told parliament that the alternative to the international bailout – bankruptcy and a departure from the euro zone – would be far worse for Greeks.

“The choice is not between sacrifice and no sacrifices at all, but between sacrifices and unimaginably harsher ones,” he told a stormy debate.

The EU and IMF say they have had enough of broken promises and that the funds will be released only with the clear commitment of Greek political leaders that they will implement the reforms whoever wins an election potentially in April.

Euro zone paymaster Germany ratcheted up the pressure on Sunday. “The promises from Greece aren’t enough for us any more,” German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said in an interview published Sunday in Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

“Greece needs to do its own homework to become competitive, whether that happens in conjunction with a new rescue program or by another route that we actually don’t want to take,” he said.

When asked if that other route meant Greece quitting the euro zone, Schaeuble said: “That is all in the hands of the Greeks themselves. But even in the event (Greece leaves the euro zone), which almost no one assumes will happen, they will still remain part of Europe.”

The bill sets out 3.3 billion euros ($4.35 billion) of extra budget cuts for this year alone.

It also provides for a bond swap to ease Greece’s debt burden by cutting the real value of private-sector investors’ bond holdings by some 70 percent. Greece would have missed a February 17 deadline to offer a debt “haircut” to private bondholders if the vote had not been passed.

Many Greeks believe their living standards are collapsing already and the new measures will only deepen their misery.

“Enough is enough!” said 89-year-old Manolis Glezos, one of Greece’s most famous leftists. “They have no idea what an uprising by the Greek people means. And the Greek people, regardless of ideology, have risen.”

Glezos is a national hero for sneaking up the Acropolis at night in 1941 and tearing down a Nazi flag from under the noses of the German occupiers, raising the morale of Athens residents.

“These measures of annihilation will not pass,” Glezos said on Syntagma Square, visibly overcome by teargas and holding a mask over his mouth.

As parliament prepared to vote on a new 130 billion euro bailout to save Greece from a messy bankruptcy, a Reuters photographer saw the buildings engulfed in flames and huge plumes of smoke rose in the night sky.

The air over Syntagma Square outside parliament was thick with tear gas as riot police fought running battles with youths who smashed marble balustrades and hurled stones and petrol bombs.

Government officials warned that Greeks faced “unimaginably harsher” sacrifices if parliament rejected the package, which demands deep pay, pension and job cuts, when it votes later in the evening.

But on the streets many businesses were ablaze, including the neo-classical home to the Attikon cinema dating from 1870 and a building housing the Asty, an underground cinema used by the Gestapo during World War Two as a torture chamber.

As fighting raged for hours, protesters threw homemade bombs made from gas canisters as riot police advanced across the square on the crowds, firing tear gas and stun grenades. Loud booms from the protests could be heard inside parliament.

“Tear gas has reached the parliament chamber,” said leftist lawmaker Panagiotis Lafazanis.

After days of dire warnings and threats of rebellion, parliament began debating a bill setting out 3.3 billion euros ($4.4 billion) in wage, pension and job cuts this year alone, to secure funds Greece needs to avoid bankruptcy next month.

Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos told parliament that the alternative to the international bailout – bankruptcy and a departure from the euro zone – would be far worse for Greeks.

“The choice is not between sacrifice and no sacrifices at all, but between sacrifices and unimaginably harsher ones,” he told a stormy debate expected to run well into the night.

One small party has already pulled out of the coalition of Prime Minister Lucas Papademos in protest against the terms of the rescue package from the European Union and International Monetary Fund – Greece’s second since 2010.

A number of lawmakers from the two biggest government parties, socialist PASOK and conservative New Democracy, have also threatened to rebel but their numbers did not appear to be enough to sink the bill.

Greece needs the international funds before March 20 to meet debt repayments of 14.5 billion euros, or suffer a chaotic default which could shake the entire euro zone.

“GREEKS HAVE RISEN!”

But many Greeks believe their living standards are collapsing already and the new measures, which include a 22 percent cut in the minimum wage, will deepen their torment.

“Enough is enough!” said 89-year-old Manolis Glezos, one of Greece’s most famous leftists. “They have no idea what an uprising by the Greek people means. And the Greek people, regardless of ideology, have risen.”

Glezos is a national hero for sneaking up the Acropolis at night in 1941 and tearing down a Nazi flag from under the noses of the German occupiers, raising the morale of Athens residents.

“These measures of annihilation will not pass,” Glezos said on Syntagma Square, visibly overcome by teargas and holding a mask over his mouth.

As is usual in Greek protests, only a small fraction of the crowd fought the police but one group started a fire right in front of a tent where first aid workers were preparing to care for the injured. “Cops, pigs, murderers!” chanted the crowd.

Police said 14 injured protesters were taken to hospital – including one who was hit in the stomach by a flare – and at least 50 were treated at the scene for breathing problems caused by the tear gas. At least eight police were also injured.

Inside parliament, Venizelos said: “Anyone who wants to remain in the euro zone must abide by some rules.

“The law must be passed by midnight because come Monday morning, the banking and financial markets must have got the message that Greece can and wants to survive.”

SHRINKING REBELLION?

According to lawmakers from both the Socialist and the conservative party, some deputies who had threatened over the past two days to reject the law have changed their stance.

“The number of dissenters looks shrinking rather than growing,” one deputy told Reuters. Another said: “The situation is too delicate – nobody can really be sure until the beans are counted.”

A deputy minister who declined to be named said he expected more than 200 lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament to approve the law.

The bill has riven the ruling coalition and deepened a social crisis among Greeks already hit by cuts and tax hikes to ease the country’s huge debt burden.

During the debate a Communist Party deputy hurled the pages of the bill on the floor of the chamber and in fiery exchanges Venizelos warned lawmakers: “If the law is not passed, the country will go bankrupt.”

A BOTTOMLESS PIT

The EU and IMF say they have had enough of broken promises and that the funds will be released only with the clear commitment of Greek political leaders that they will implement the reforms whoever wins an election potentially in April.

Euro zone paymaster Germany ratcheted up the pressure on Sunday. “The promises from Greece aren’t enough for us anymore,” German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said in an interview published on Sunday in Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

German opinion polls show a majority of Germans are willing to help, Schaeuble said, “but it’s important to say that it cannot be a bottomless pit … At least people are now starting to realize it won’t work with a bottomless pit.

“Greece needs to do its own homework to become competitive – whether that happens in conjunction with a new rescue program or by another route that we actually don’t want to take…”

When asked if that other “route” meant Greece quitting the euro zone, Schaeuble said: “That is all in the hands of the Greeks themselves. But even in the event (Greece leaves the euro zone), which almost no one assumes will happen, they will still remain part of Europe.”

The austerity measures include cutting the minimum wage from about 750 euros a month and aim to cut Greece’s bloated state sector workforce by about 150,000 people by 2015.

It also provides for a bond swap to ease Greece’s debt burden by cutting the real value of private-sector investors’ bond holdings by some 70 percent. Greece will miss a February 17 deadline to offer a debt “haircut” to private bondholders if the vote is not passed on Sunday.

As parliament prepared to vote on a new 130 billion euro
bailout to save Greece from a messy bankruptcy, a Reuters
photographer saw the buildings engulfed in flames and huge
plumes of smoke rose in the night sky.

The air over Syntagma Square outside parliament was thick
with tear gas as riot police fought running battles with youths
who smashed marble balustrades and hurled stones and petrol
bombs.

Government officials warned that Greeks faced “unimaginably
harsher” sacrifices if parliament rejected the package, which
demands deep pay, pension and job cuts, when it votes later in
the evening.

But on the streets many businesses were ablaze, including
the neo-classical home to the Attikon cinema dating from 1870
and a building housing the Asty, an underground cinema used by
the Gestapo during World War Two as a torture chamber.

As fighting raged for hours, protesters threw home made
bombs made from gas canisters as riot police advanced across the
square on the crowds, firing tear gas and stun grenades. Loud
booms from the protests could be heard inside parliament.

“Tear gas has reached the parliament chamber,” said leftist
lawmaker Panagiotis Lafazanis.

After days of dire warnings and threats of rebellion,
parliament began debating a bill setting out 3.3 billion euros
($4.4 billion) in wage, pension and job cuts this year alone, to
secure funds Greece needs to avoid bankruptcy next month.

Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos told parliament that
the alternative to the international bailout – bankruptcy and a
departure from the euro zone – would be far worse for Greeks.

“The choice is not between sacrifice and no sacrifices at
all, but between sacrifices and unimaginably harsher ones,” he
told a stormy debate expected to run well into the night.

One small party has already pulled out of the coalition of
Prime Minister Lucas Papademos in protest against the terms of
the rescue package from the European Union and International
Monetary Fund – Greece’s second since 2010.

A number of lawmakers from the two biggest government
parties, socialist PASOK and conservative New Democracy, have
also threatened to rebel but their numbers did not appear to be
enough to sink the bill.

Greece needs the international funds before March 20 to meet
debt repayments of 14.5 billion euros, or suffer a chaotic
default which could shake the entire euro zone.

“GREEKS HAVE RISEN!”

But many Greeks believe their living standards are
collapsing already and the new measures, which include a 22
percent cut in the minimum wage, will deepen their torment.

“Enough is enough!” said 89-year-old Manolis Glezos, one of
Greece’s most famous leftists. “They have no idea what an
uprising by the Greek people means. And the Greek people,
regardless of ideology, have risen.”

Glezos is a national hero for sneaking up the Acropolis at
night in 1941 and tearing down a Nazi flag from under the noses
of the German occupiers, raising the morale of Athens residents.

“These measures of annihilation will not pass,” Glezos said
on Syntagma Square, visibly overcome by teargas and holding a
mask over his mouth.

As is usual in Greek protests, only a small fraction of the
crowd fought the police but one group started a fire right in
front of a tent where first aid workers were preparing to care
for the injured. “Cops, pigs, murderers!” chanted the crowd.

Police said 14 injured protesters were taken to hospital -
including one who was hit in the stomach by a flare – and at
least 50 were treated at the scene for breathing problems
caused by the tear gas. At least eight police were also injured.

Inside parliament, Venizelos said: “Anyone who wants to
remain in the euro zone must abide by some rules.

“The law must be passed by midnight because come Monday
morning, the banking and financial markets must have got the
message that Greece can and wants to survive.”

SHRINKING REBELLION?

According to lawmakers from both the Socialist and the
conservative party, some deputies who had threatened over the
past two days to reject the law have changed their stance.

“The number of dissenters looks shrinking rather than
growing,” one deputy told Reuters. Another said: “The situation
is too delicate – nobody can really be sure until the beans are
counted.”

A deputy minister who declined to be named said he expected
more than 200 lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament to approve
the law.

The bill has riven the ruling coalition and deepened a
social crisis among Greeks already hit by cuts and tax hikes to
ease the country’s huge debt burden.

During the debate a Communist Party deputy hurled the pages
of the bill on the floor of the chamber and in fiery exchanges
Venizelos warned lawmakers: “If the law is not passed, the
country will go bankrupt.”

A BOTTOMLESS PIT

The EU and IMF say they have had enough of broken promises
and that the funds will be released only with the clear
commitment of Greek political leaders that they will implement
the reforms whoever wins an election potentially in April.

Euro zone paymaster Germany ratcheted up the pressure on
Sunday. “The promises from Greece aren’t enough for us any
more,” German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said in an
interview published on Sunday in Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

German opinion polls show a majority of Germans are willing
to help, Schaeuble said, “but it’s important to say that it
cannot be a bottomless pit … At least people are now starting
to realise it won’t work with a bottomless pit.

“Greece needs to do its own homework to become competitive -
whether that happens in conjunction with a new rescue programme
or by another route that we actually don’t want to take…”

When asked if that other “route” meant Greece quitting the
euro zone, Schaeuble said: “That is all in the hands of the
Greeks themselves. But even in the event (Greece leaves the euro
zone), which almost no one assumes will happen, they will still
remain part of Europe.”

The austerity measures include cutting the minimum wage from
about 750 euros a month and aim to cut Greece’s bloated state
sector workforce by about 150,000 people by 2015.

It also provides for a bond swap to ease Greece’s debt
burden by cutting the real value of private-sector investors’
bond holdings by some 70 percent. Greece will miss a Feb. 17
deadline to offer a debt “haircut” to private bondholders if the
vote is not passed on Sunday.