Athens approves austerity plan

Amid heated scenes Greek lawmakers passed a crucial austerity vote aimed at preventing the country's bankruptcy as riots raged outside.

The two parties supporting the measures expelled more than 40 deputies early on Monday, immediately after the vote, for failing to back the bill. The conservative New Democracy party said it had expelled 21 of its 83 representatives, while the socialist PASOK party expelled about 20 of its 153 lawmakers.

The vote was eagerly awaited by other EU member states, with warnings that failure to approve the plan - and a subsequent default by Athens - would throw the eurozone into crisis.

Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos told lawmakers the violence witnessed outside the parliament was completely unacceptable. "Vandalisms, violence and destruction have no place in a democratic country and won't be tolerated," he said.

During the dramatic debate, one Communist Party delegate threw pages of the bill onto the floor of the chamber. In response, Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos warned that "if the law is not passed, the country will go bankrupt."

The austerity package is intended to secure a new 130-billion-euros ($171 billion) bailout package - the second of its kind - from the European Union and International Monetary fund. If deputies had rejected the package, Venizelos said, Greece would have been unable to secure funding in time to repay a 14.5 billion-euro debt by March 20.

Support from opposition

Opposition conservative leader Antonio Samaras appealed to Greek deputies to back the plan, while members of both his own party and the ruling PASOK party said they would vote against it.

As the vote was debated, there were violent scenes outside parliament where some 100,000 protesters had rallied to voice anger.

At least 10 buildings, including a bank, were seen in flames after anarchists set fire to shops and businesses. Some threw fire bombs at police, who responded with stun grenades and tear gas. At one point, tear gas infiltrated the parliament building.

Dozens of police officers and at least 37 protesters were injured in the violence, with at least 20 suspected rioters detained.

State television reported that violence spread to the islands of Corfu and Crete, and some 20,000 protesters gathered in the northern city of Thessaloniki.

rc/ng (AFP, AP, Reuters)