Greek labor union urges to block Powell's visit

Greece's largest labor union the GSEE and the leftist party backed Social Forum had called for demonstrations on Friday evening against US Secretary of State Colin Powell's visit for the Olympics Games closing ceremony, local media reported Thursday.

According to the reports, protesters will march from downtown Athens to the US Embassy a few hours ahead of Powell's arrival.

The demonstrations will also be designed to remind people of the negative consequences of the Games, such as hundreds of labor accidents, damage to the environment, and repressive security measures, the leftist party Synaspismos backed daily "Avgi" reported.

Earlier on Wednesday, government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos said people have the constitutional right to

demonstrate, but called on the organizers to protect the image of Greece in this "critical" period in the middle of the Olympic Games.

Meanwhile, Public Order Ministry's sources were quoted by the opposition daily "Ta Nea" as saying, "there can be no

demonstrations in the center of Athens during the Olympic Games."

Demonstrations in the Greek capital heading towards the US Embassy traditionally take all six traffic lanes, but authorities have said earlier fast lanes reserved for the Games cannot be disturbed.

The reports also said the Communist Party (KKE) is organizing separate demonstrations on Saturday.

Source: Xinhua