Greek policeman seriously wounded in shooting

A Greek policeman was shot and seriously wounded in an attack by at least two gunmen early yesterday in central Athens, the second such attack in two weeks, police said.

No one has claimed responsibility for the shooting near the Culture Ministry, but police said it bore the hallmarks of a December 23 attack on a police bus which a new leftist group said it staged to protest the police killing of a teenager last month.

"The people that carried out this attack targeted democracy," Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos told reporters. "No bullet or murderer can hurt the police's morale."

About 30 shots were fired from at least two weapons, including a semi-automatic AK-47 assault rifle and a handgun, a police official said.

One policeman was taken to hospital with serious injuries after being hit by three bullets, the official said.

The gunmen also tossed a Russian-made hand grenade at the police to cover their escape.

Police have taken in 72 people for questioning, but no arrests have been made, the official said.

Athens has been hit with weeks of rioting and unrest after police fatally shot student Alexandros Grigoropoulos on December 6.

The violence has shaken a conservative government that has a fragile one-seat majority and trails the opposition in opinion polls by around six percentage points. Some analysts say months of street protests could force early elections.