ATHENS, December 8 (RIA Novosti) - Street riots continued for a third day in Greece on Monday, amid public anger over the fatal shooting of a teenage boy by police.
Demonstrations are planned for Monday evening in five of the country's cities. Monday's most severe clashes have occurred in Thessaloniki, where groups of young people have hurled firebombs at riot police and smashed shop windows.
The riots began on Saturday after 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos was shot dead by a police officer in Athens. Police said a group of teenagers attacked their car and an officer fired warning shots, accidentally killing the boy, but eyewitnesses said he deliberately aimed at the victim.
Two police officers have been arrested over the shooting, and one faces murder charges.
Protest turned violent on Monday in the small central Greek town of Trikala, where four police and one student were reported as injured near a police station. Nine protesters have been detained.
National media said police used tear gas to break up demonstrations on the island of Rhodes. Protests have also spread to the islands of Corfu, Crete and Rhodes, where thousands have taken to the streets.
In Athens, numerous banks and shops, and an office of Greece's ruling New Democracy party have been hit by arson attacks since Saturday. Dozens of police and demonstrators were injured.
President Karolos Papoulias has sent a telegram offering his condolences to the boy's family, and Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis has voiced regret over the killing.
