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Journalism of Courage
Greek riot police today hurled teargas at demonstrators trying to march to the US embassy in Athens to protest against visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Police clashed with protesters trying to break through their cordon. The Leftist and anti-war activists fired back with sticks and petrol bombs.
Rice is meeting Greek PM Costas Karamanlis and her Greek counterpart Dora Bakoyanni as part of a five-day trip to Europe that also includes Turkey and Bulgaria.
Thousands of protesters, waving banners reading 8216;8216;Rice Go Home8217;8217;, gathered in central Athens vowing to reach the heavily-guarded embassy but most retreated under the teargas. There were no reports of injuries or arrests.
8216;8216;This is an anti-war rally,8217;8217; said protester Panayiotis Hiundis, a school teacher. 8216;8216;We are not protesting just against Rice but the imperialist, war-mongering US government8217;8217;.
Greek Leftists and peace activists usually protest against visits by senior US officials. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell cancelled a visit to the Athens 2004 Olympics for fear of violent protests.
Although NATO allies for decades, many Greeks are still angry at Washington for backing the far-right military junta that ruled Greece between 1967 and 1974.
On Monday, the Greek Communist Party KKE surprised police by managing to hoist a giant poster reading 8216;8216;Condoleezza Rice Go Home8217;8217; from the central Athens Music Hall, next to the US Embassy.
Rice told reporters on the plane to Athens she would discuss ways to end the division of Cyprus. Divided among ethnic Greek and Turkish communities since Turkey invaded in 1974, Cyprus has evaded repeated UN efforts to re-unite in a federation.
