Violence breaks out in Athens as two-day general strike begins

Violence broke out in Athens on Wednesday at the start of a two-day general strike that has crippled life in Greece, even as lawmakers prepared to vote on an austerity bill, just before the Sunday summit of European leaders to resolve the debt crisis in the country.

Thousands of protestors clashed with the police outside the Greek parliament, lobbing stones and fire bombs. The police fired tear gas to disperse the mob. The 48-hour strike, called by both public and private sector unions, shut down government departments and private offices, airports and ports, shops and commercial establishments.

 The country's beleaguered prime minister George Papandreou made a strong appeal for cooperation from lawmakers, comparing the crisis to a war. ''We must persevere in this war as people, as a government, as a parliamentary group in order for the country to win,'' Papandreou told deputies of his ruling PASOK party. ''We will win for the country, we will persevere. That is why I'm here.''

Papandreou, who has been mauled in opinion polls where his standing has plummeted, wants parliament to pass new measures that would raise taxes, cut wages, slash pensions for high-income earners, besides sacking public sector workers. His party has a narrow four-seat majority in parliament.

However, his drastic austerity plan has divided his ruling socialist party, which has a narrow, four-seat majority in the 300-member parliament.

The government is under pressure from other European nations, who have to decide on a euro eight billion package to rescue Greece from bankruptcy. The country will run out of money by mid-November, if the rescue package is not cleared, which could trigger a massive crisis in Europe.