Greece Strike Amid Anti-Racist Rapper Killing

By Anthee Carassava, in Athens

Thousands of civil servants in Greece have taken to the streets in protest against looming jobs cuts, as a 34-year-old anti-racist hip hop artist was stabbed to death by a neo-Nazi.

Described by politicians and police as one of the worst shows of political violence in decades, the rapper's murder sent shock waves across a country that has seen the extreme-right Golden Dawn party surge in popularity since its election to parliament last year.

Authorities told Sky News that a 45-year-old member of the neo-Nazi party had confessed to the brutal stabbing hours after he was arrested and taken to police headquarters in central Athens.

"We are now conducting police raids at the party's main headquarters in Athens," a senior police official said.

Local media said Pavlos Fyssas - otherwise known as Killah P - was ambushed by a mob of youths dressed in black after an altercation at a football cafe in the working class district of Keratsini, west of the Greek capital.

"As he moved to leave the building the assailant emerged from a crowd, stabbing him twice in the heart," said a senior police officer.

A protester addresses a rally outside the Labour Ministry in Athens

Reports said Fyssas managed to whisper the name of his killer to his girlfriend before being taken to a local hospital, where he died of his wounds.

The attack comes less than a week after teams of around 50 men wielding crowbars and bats set upon a group of communist steel workers as they distributed posters near the port of Perama.

Golden Dawn immediately denied any involvement, but authorities fear the incident will exacerbate an already explosive social situation in Greece.

Police said they were taken urgent security measures to shield protests against Golden Dawn.

High-school students at an anti-government rally in Athens

Meanwhile, more than 9,000 workers, some waving black flags and banners reading "No to firings!", flooded the street in front of parliament in Syntagma Square, the focal point of anti-austerity protests.

It was the first stoppage ever to hit Greece's bloated and costly civil sector.

The 48-hour strike has affected all public services across the country. Schools and courts have closed, while hospitals have been forced to operate with just emergency staff. Trains were due to stop running for four hours.

Journalists suspended industrial action and a media blackout to cover the attack on Fyssas.

Hit hard by the economic crisis, Greece is experiencing a sixth consecutive year of recession which experts fear is fuelling an increase in violence.

The latest strikes, called by the public sector umbrella union ADEDY, come days before the "troika" of European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund lenders visit Athens to check on progress made on promised reforms.

The troika has bailed out Greece to the tune of 240bn euros (£201bn) but has warned it will stop payments unless Athens pushes forward with plans to tackle deep-rooted corruption in the state apparatus.

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