Rice to visit Athens today amid protests
Anti-war protesters and members of left-wing groups yesterday staged protests in central Athens against a visit by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice after the Foreign Ministry said she would be arriving this morning, two days earlier than planned. The ministry announced the change of plan on Sunday – the climax of the Orthodox Easter holiday – without giving an official reason but it is widely regarded as an attempt to limit the size of planned anti-war rallies. The Greek Communist Party (KKE) and members of anti-war groups responded by rescheduling their protest action, beginning with a demonstration outside Parliament yesterday and due to culminate today with two rallies in the city center. «The minister of war and imperialism is not wanted in this country,» a party statement said. KKE supporters held a rally outside Parliament yesterday but police stopped protesters from reaching the US Embassy. Some 20 people were detained. Meanwhile, a group of 30 supporters of the Communist-affiliated union PAME tried to hoist a banner bearing anti-American slogans onto the roof of the Athens Concert Hall, adjacent to the US Embassy, but were stopped by police. Eight protesters restrained a security guard at the venue as the others tried to scale its facade, police said. Traffic in central Athens will be severely restricted for most of today because of the two demonstrations. Some 5,000 police officers will also be mobilized. Police will monitor every step of Rice’s agenda and watch potential targets of anti-US ire. A similar demonstration is due to take place in Thessaloniki at 7 p.m. Meanwhile, Rice is due to have talks with her counterpart, Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis, on the situation in Iraq and Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program as well as Cyprus and Greek-Turkish relations. Rice is also scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis before leaving Athens to continue her tour of the region, which includes a trip to Ankara and possibly Nicosia. Yesterday, opposition politicians’ reaction to Rice’s visit ranged from skepticism to outrage. «It must be clear that the Greek people oppose any prospect of war,» PASOK MP Christos Papoutsis said. The leader of Synaspismos Left Coalition, Alekos Alavanos, was more outspoken. «A few days after the resurrection, the foreign minister of the USA comes to Athens as a messenger of war,» he said, adding that Rice was «persona non grata» in Greece.
