Greece reels under impact of general strike

People draped banners from apartment buildings along the route reading: "No more sacrifices - war against war."

The strike grounded all flights and paralysed public transport.

State hospitals were left with skeleton staff and all news broadcasts were suspended as workers walked off the job for 24 hours.

The action was called by the country's main union confederations in protest at spending cuts and tax rises that the Socialist government has imposed on the nation in a bid to appease bankers and EU officials concerned that the country's debt crisis could undermine the euro.

Under pressure from Brussels and the US-dominated International Monetary Fund, Athens has announced an additional 4.8 billion euros (£4.4bn) in savings through savage public-sector wage cuts, recruitment and pension freezes and consumer tax rises to deal with its ballooning deficit.

The cutbacks, which add to a previous 11.2 billion euros (£10.1bn) austerity plan, seek to reduce the country's budget deficit from 12.7 per cent of annual output to 8.7 per cent this year.

The long-term target is to bring overspending below the EU-dictated ceiling of 3 per cent of GDP in 2012.

The regressive measures have sparked a major upsurge of union-led working-class resistance.

Yesterday's general strike was the second major walkout in a week.

On the eve of the latest strike the European Trade Union Confederation expressed its "whole solidarity" with Greece.

In a statement, the ETUC, which represents 60 million individual trade unionists, said that it stood "shoulder to shoulder" with the strikers because "workers are losing their jobs in the hundreds of thousands because of the greed and the speculation of the 'lords of finance.'"

The ETUC roundly condemned unelected EU institutions for "giving an entirely wrong message - speculators are not to be touched while workers and governments are pressed to cut wages, social benefits and public services."

The confederation demanded a "new social deal" for the EU, including a financial transaction tax, a common euro bond, a European rating agency and a European Central Bank which also supports public policy and public finances.

Meanwhile, street clashes erupted after the demonstration in Athens on Thursday. Hundreds of masked and hooded rioters knocked police off their bikes and smashed the windows of shops, banks, jewelers and a cinema. Riot police responded with volleys of tear gas and stun grenades.

Police said that 12 suspected rioters were detained and two officers had been injured.