As a petrol bomb explodes at their feet, policemen leap out of the way at a May Day rally in Athens
Part of his uniform on fire, an officer sprints to safety
Police walk in front of a burning broadcast van belonging to state TV. It was set on fire by a petrol bomb
Demonstrators and police fight outside the Greek Parliament during a Mayday demonstration to protest against impending austerity measures
The European Union and the International Monetary Fund are expected to confirm the aid, which will come in return for tough austerity measures, at a meeting this afternoon.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou is hoping the three-year deal – expected to reach up to 120 billion euros (£104.5billion) - will help stem a crisis that has hit the euro and shaken markets worldwide.However, thousands of angry protesters took to the streets of Athens yesterday over proposed conditions to the bailout, including draconian budget cuts which demonstrators believe will only affect the poor and will drag the country further into recession.
Clashes broke out between anarchists throwing petrol bombs and rocks towards riot police, who used tear gas to control the crowds at the May Day rallies.
Protesters could be heard chanting, ‘No to the IMF's junta!’, referring to the military dictatorship which ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974, and: ‘Hands off our rights! IMF and EU Commission out!’
Supporters of Greek Communist party gather during a May Day rally at central Syntagma square in Athens
A riot policeman jumps over metal railings after being set on fire by protesters throwing petrol bombs. Colleagues rushed over to him to put out the flames
A demonstrator throws a stone to riot police during the Athens protest
Policemen charge at protesters who turn and flee. Left-wing parties have vowed to escalate protests
More than half of Greeks say they will take to the streets again if the government agrees to the robust measures, according to an ALCO poll.
Foreign Office officials were 'monitoring' the situation in Greece, a popular destination for British holidaymakers. An estimated three million visited the Mediterranean country last year.
The protests came as it was revealed the economic crisis there can be traced back to a 'cover-up' by Labour governments in the Seventies.
But Whitehall files kept secret for 30 years show the chaos could have been averted if Harold Wilson and James Callaghan had vetoed the country’s entry to the then European Community.
The documents show that Callaghan, who was Foreign Secretary in Wilson’s Cabinet before succeeding him as Prime Minister, told the Cabinet that he feared Britain being ‘a minority of one’ in Europe if he opposed the Greek bid to join the EC.
One memo, written by a diplomat at the British Embassy in Athens, stated: ‘In the negotiations for Greek entry, we would do well not to rely wholly on Greek sources for our description of Greek reality.’
Another said: ‘We would be asking for trouble if Greece was allowed to join first and adopt
EC regulations later.’
Callaghan not only ignored these warnings, he also urged Ministers to make no public reference to them. Greece’s accession was ratified in 1981 – but without a proper ‘look at the books’.
Callaghan also cautioned against calling publicly for a study on problems that Spain and Portugal – both of which applied in 1977 – would cause the EC. Both have now had their economies marked down.
Shortly after Callaghan moved into No10, the Foreign Office warned about Greece’s entry: ‘The economic disadvantages for us will be substantial and it will be difficult to run the Community in ways satisfactory to us.’
Yesterday, angry Greeks took part in rallies that saw riot police using tear gas to disperse protesters armed with petrol bombs and rocks in Athens.
Thousands of people took part in protests called by unions against EU demands for spending cuts in exchange for a bailout deal.
Protesters hit two television trucks with petrol bombs and vandalised a hotel.
The rescue package is expected to amount to £100billion over three years. The Greek Cabinet was due to meet at 7.30am today to ratify the aid deal. Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou is due to announce them at noon and then immediately fly to Brussels for an emergency meeting of eurozone finance ministers.
British visitors were told the Foreign Office was monitoring the protests as holidaymakers were further warned they face further disruption on Wednesday, when flights in and out of Greek airports will be cancelled during a 24-hour strike.
The International Monetary Fund believes it will take 10 years for Greece to overcome its financial crisis, according to a report to appear in Monday's Der Spiegel magazine.
Without citing any sources, the newsweekly said the IMF expects it to take that long for economic reforms to be pushed through and then bear fruit.
The International Monetary Fund has said it will provide the money over three years, along with Greece's partners in the eurozone.
IMF and EU negotiators began talks in Athens on April 21 and continued through Friday.
French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said after a meeting of French government officials yesterday that she was confident eurozone finance ministers would approve the package by the end of the weekend.
Governments are discussing a package of up to £104billion over three years, she said.
Greece's additional austerity measures are likely to include raising consumer taxes, while docking pensions and public service pay.
Unions are furious and called on workers to rally in central Athens Saturday.
'These measures are death. How people are going to live tomorrow, how they're going to survive, I do not understand,' said Nikos Diamantopoulos, who was participating in a rally organised by pro-Communist unions.
Union members were marching toward the Athens offices of the European Union and continuing to the U.S. Embassy.
Minor clashes broke out between rock-throwing anarchists and police, who responded with pepper spray.
In the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, where more than 5,000 people demonstrated, anarchists briefly clashed with police and smashed a few storefronts and ATMs.
Conservative opposition party New Democracy and the Right-wing populist LAOS have been critical of the government but are seen as likely to support the package of measures.
Left-wing parties have vowed to escalate protests.
'The Greek people do not owe anything to anybody. Those who have brazenly robbed public money and pension funds,' Left Coalition leader Alexis Tsipras told reporters at one of the Athens rallies.
Accountant Virginia Kalapotharakou, who joined striking seamen and dockworkers rallying in the port of Piraeus, called the potential measures 'very reactionary'.
'They're trying to do away with all the rights we gained through struggles in previous years,' she said.
A default would be a serious blow to the euro currency and could hit Greek and European banks that invested in Greek government bonds. The bailout is designed to prevent that and to keep the Greek crisis from spreading to other countries that use the euro.
Greece spent freely for years and ran up debt equal to 115 percent of gross domestic product.
It has been effectively shut out of bond markets to refinance its debt pile because investors fear default and are demanding high rates of interest the government says it cannot pay.
Signs that the help will soon be approved have calmed markets, which previously pushed Greece's cost of borrowing to untenably high levels high as EU and German officials showed little urgency in addressing the problem.
On Friday the interest rate gap, or spread, between Greek 10-year bonds and their benchmark German equivalent narrowed to 6.20 percentage points, from a staggering 10 points Wednesday.
But Athens was in for more bad news as credit agency Moody's Investor Services downgraded the debt rating of nine Greek banks: National Bank of Greece, EFG Eurobank Ergasias, Alpha Bank, Piraeus Bank, Emporiki Bank of Greece, Agricultural Bank of Greece, General Bank of Greece, Marfin Egnatia Bank and Attica Bank.
Moody's said the banks' might face further downgrades - a move that would come alongside Moody's ongoing review of the country's sovereign debt rating.
On Thursday, the agency confirmed that it is awaiting to see details of an EU-IMF rescue package before a possible revision of Greece's credit rating, but that a 'multi-notch downgrade' remained likely.
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