Policeman shot in continuing Athens fall-out

GUNMEN sprayed Athens riot police with automatic weapons fire early yesterday, seriously wounding a policeman in an escalation of violence that broke out after the fatal police shooting of a teenager last month.

Police said one of the weapons fired by the attackers had been used previously by the extremist group Revolutionary Struggle, which claimed responsibility for a 2007 attack on the US embassy in Athens.

More than 30 shots were fired from a Kalashnikov-type rifle at three riot policemen guarding the Culture Ministry. The shooting severely wounded Diamandis Matzounis, 21.

Stratos Mavroidakos, the head of a police officers' association, said the riots last month had cultivated an atmosphere of hatred against police.