http://www.cnn.com/ ATHENS, Greece (CNN) -- The Greek government has appealed for calm after rioting returned to cities Sunday, following a night of violence during which youths battled police across the country.
Athens riot police come under attack near the capital's main police station Sunday.
Athens riot police come under attack near the capital's main police station Sunday.
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Athens and other cities were hit by the overnight violence after a member of an elite police corps shot dead a teen in the Greek capital, triggering angry protests.
The officer who fired the fatal shot has been charged with murder with malicious intent and suspended from duty, police said, adding that an autopsy on the youth is scheduled for Monday, in an effort to discern the circumstances of the shooting.
Demonstrators barricaded city streets Sunday in Athens and Thessaloniki and hurled petrol bombs as they battled with police, who fought back with tear gas in the second day of rioting. Video Watch youths riot in Greece »
Rampaging youths smashed storefronts and burned businesses, leaving shattered glass and burnt debris scattered across both cities.
Government officials, fearing more violence, swiftly condemned the shooting.
"An investigation is underway and those found responsible with be punished," said Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos, who earlier had his resignation refused by prime minister Kostas Karamanlis. "Measures will also be taken to avoid such incidents again in the future."
"It's still very tense," journalist Anthee Carassava told CNN from Athens. "You can almost cut it with a knife. The scenes in downtown Athens have been harrowing."
"These are the worst disturbances I have seen in covering the country in the last 20 years."
Residents of an apartment building in central Athens were evacuated Sunday after angry demonstrators torched a car dealership on the basement floor.
A police statement about the teenage boy's death said the incident started when six youths pelted a police patrol car with stones.
The teen was shot as he tried to throw a fuel-filled bomb at the officers, police said.
Other youths -- often referred to in Greece as " the known-unknowns -- converged on the site almost immediately, using texting and Web sites to organize and communicate.
Fighting between youths and police quickly erupted in other parts of Greece, including Thessaloniki, the country's second largest city.
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Hundreds of youths took to the streets of the sprawling port city, and finally barricaded themselves behind the gates of a state university, where police are barred from entering.
Police say several police officers have been injured and that some protesters have been rounded up for questioning.
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Topic: Eλληνικη αστυνομια (Read 95968 times)