Labor protest in Athens injures 15 police

ATHENS - Youths wearing ski masks hurled chunks of marble and fire bombs at riot police as clashes broke out Wednesday during a mass rally against austerity measures, part of a general strike that crippled services and public transport around financially struggling Greece.

Police fired tear gas and flash grenades at protesters, blanketing parts of the city center in choking smoke and forcing thousands of peaceful demonstrators to scurry into side streets for cover. A motorcycle police officer was hit by a petrol bomb and his uniform caught fire in the city's main Syntagma Square, before he was rescued by colleagues. His bike was destroyed.

Protesters chanting "Don't obey the rich - Fight back!" marched to parliament as the city center was heavily policed. A brass band, tractors and cyclists joined the rally.

About 15 policemen were injured, and nine suspected rioters were arrested, including a man who was allegedly armed with a longbow, arrows and an ax, police said.

The rally was part of Greece's first major labor protest this year as Prime Minister George Papandreou's Socialist government faces international pressure to make more lasting cuts after the nation's debt-crippled economy was rescued from bankruptcy by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

Police said about 33,000 protesters had attended the Athens rally. Organizers said the turnout was around 100,000.

The sporadic clashes lasted for more than three hours. Several hundred protesters gathered outside parliament after the march and vowed to remain until the government agreed to make concessions. They were eventually forcibly removed by riot police.