Greek lawmaker injured in crowbar attack

Socialist Pasok deputy Petros Efthymiou was struck on back of the head outside his Athens office by a young man aged around 30 who subsequently fled, the source said.

Efthymiou, 58, needed stitches for a wound, but a party spokesman said he was in no immediate danger.

"From the descriptions we have he has escaped the worst, though narrowly," said Pasok spokesman George Papakonstantinou.

"This is not the first time one of our members has been targeted," he added.

In 2006, another Pasok cadre, General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE) chairman Christos Polyzogopoulos was hospitalized with facial injuries after an attack by a gang of 15 youths in central Athens.

According to police, the youths were returning from a protest march in support of three self-styled anarchists jailed for allegedly assaulting riot police.

An ex-journalist, Efthymiou is a former Pasok spokesman and was education minister from 2000 to 2004.