ATHENS — Mobs of militant youth angered by the fatal shooting of a teenager took to a weekend of rampage, battling police in central Athens and destroying scores of shops, cars and businesses across the country.
The riots, triggered late Saturday when a small group of youths attacked a police car in central Athens, sparked a spree of violence that ripped through the country, leaving many cities shattered like war zones.
“We’ve never seen anything like this,” said a senior police official who requested anonymity because of his involvement in the investigation. “The tension is so thick you can almost cut it with a knife.”
The circumstances surrounding the fatal shooting remained unclear.
Still, a police statement issued in the early hours of Sunday said the shooting took place while two officers were targeted by some 30 youths — many of them hurling stones — while patrolling the central district of Exarchia, an unruly haven of leftist extremists.
Both officers left their car to confront the rioters, “firing three shots that resulted in the death of the minor,” according to the statement.
Continued>>>
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/08/world/europe/08greece.html?ref=europeEver noticed how the NYT never misses an opportunity to demonize leftists?
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