Protesters besiege parliament as Greece braces for more violence

Ranks of police, forming a cordon outside parliament, stood their ground when a crowd, many throwing stones, tried to break through to march on the legislature. The protesters, mainly students, regrouped repeatedly to advance on the police line, wearing handkerchiefs against the teargas.Â

 

"The only thing this government can offer is to resign and turn to the people for its verdict," Papandreou told a party meeting inside parliament. "We claim power," he was quoted by Reuters as saying.

 

The shooting touched a raw nerve among young Greeks, many of whom have poor economic prospects. Unemployment, already over seven percent, is rising and economic growth is expected to fall below two percent next year, after averaging about four percent over the past decade.

 

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis met political leaders including Papandreou on Tuesday to urge them to unite against the riots and warned the protesters threatening to unseat his government they could expect no leniency.

 

"No one has the right to use this tragic incident as an excuse for acts of violence," he said.

 

Violence resumed on Tuesday in the northern city of Thessaloniki and in Ioannina, and Greek demonstrators occupied the country's consulate in Paris.

 

Police expected more violence in Athens later on Tuesday after the funeral of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos, whose shooting ignited anger over corruption scandals, a widening gap between rich and poor, and economic problems.

 

FUNERAL

The action began hours before the funeral of a 15-year-old youth, whose killing by a policeman on Saturday triggered Greece's worst riots in decades. Hundreds of buildings have been wrecked or burned and more than 50 people injured.

 

Mourners also clashed with riot police outside an Athens cemetery during the funeral. No injuries have been reported as officers use tear gas to dispel small groups of stone-throwing youths who attacked TV crews, police and shops round the cemetery.

 

Some 6,000 people attended the funeral Tuesday, applauding as the boy's body was carried out of the church in a flower-covered white coffin.

 

The ceremony itself was peaceful, despite chants of "Cops! Pigs! Murderers!" from the mostly teenage crowd.

 

Protests have swept more than 10 cities across the European Union member state of 11 million people, including Thessaloniki in the north and the tourist islands of Crete and Corfu.

 

Two police officers involved in the boy’s death have been arrested and charged, one with murder and the other as an accomplice.

 

The unrest has left dozens injured and hundreds of buildings destroyed or badly damaged across the country. Greeks abroad also staged demonstrations in London, where five people were arrested, Berlin and Nicosia.