Athens riots

One year after the shooting of a teenager in Athens by police, an act that sent the country into a violent spiral of riots, shootings and bombings, large-scale demonstrations are expected in the Greek capital.

Police were already attacked by youths in Athens and the southern city of Corinth on Friday. Two officers were injured and President Karolos Papoulias pleaded for calm.

More than 6,000 police will be deployed on the streets of Athens in anticipation of a return to the rioting that continued for two weeks following the shooting-death of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos in 2008.

"We want to send a clear message, we won't tolerate a repeat of the violence and terror scene in central Athens, we won't hand Athens to vandals," Citizen Protection Minister Mihalis Chrysohoidis told reporters on Friday.

Recently elected Prime Minister George Papandreou, who ran on a platform of boosting the economy and helping the poor, urged the people to demonstrate peacefully.

"In a crucial moment for our country, all of us, citizens, political leaders, parties, students representatives, we must protect Athens," he said on Thursday.

In October, a bomb was detonated outside the home of a Greek member of the European Parliament a few days after two masked men with automatic weapons shot at a police station near Athens. Six officers were wounded in the attack.

sjt/Reuters/AP
Editor: Kyle James