NEWS

Party leaders’ meeting delayed until Sunday

A crucial meeting between Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and the leaders of the three parties supporting his government has been postponed until Sunday.

Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, meanwhile, is locked in feverish talks with Greece?s creditors and his eurozone peers.

Papademos is set to meet at 1 p.m. on Sunday, rather than on Saturday, with the presidents of PASOK, George Papandreou, of New Democracy, Antonis Samaras and of Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS), Giorgos Karatzeferis in an effort to reach a deal on painful reforms that the new bailout contract with the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund will depend on.

The reason for the postponement of the meeting was not immediately clear. A small group of Communist Party (KKE) supporters had been protesting outside Papademos’s office in central Athens on Saturday morning but it’s not clear whether this affected with the timing of the meeting.

Negotiations with representatives of the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank ? known as the troika ? are continuing in Athens on Saturday after a lengthy session on Friday with Venizelos having new meetings with key government ministers and the troika throughout Saturday while participating in a decisive Eurogroup teleconference meeting at 2.30 p.m.

The heads of the Institute of International Finance, representing the majority of Greece?s private creditors have also arrived in Athens to conclude a long-delayed agreement on the private sector involvement (PSI) in the Greek debt haircut.

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