Muslim migrants riot in Greece over defacement of Koran
THENS, Greece - Dozens of cars were smashed and 14 people were
hospitalized with injuries after protests by Muslim immigrants angered at the alleged defacement of a Quran by a Greek policeman ended in a riot.
Police fired tear gas and stun grenades at hundreds of protesters outside parliament and elsewhere in the Athens city center. The government said 46 protesters were arrested and 75 cars were damaged.
Chanting "God is great!" and waving leather-bound copies of Islam's holy book, about 1,500 Muslim immigrants - mostly young men - marched to Parliament in the center of Athens to express their anger. The clashes occurred after the protest had dwindled to about 300.
Rioters hurled rocks at police and attacked police cordons with sticks and their belts, ignoring pleas for calm in Arabic and Greek from protest
organizers. The violence spread as young men overturned cars, set fire to
trash bins and attacked several banks.
Seven policemen and seven immigrants were being treated in hospital for
injuries, police said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1087514.html
THENS, Greece - Dozens of cars were smashed and 14 people were
hospitalized with injuries after protests by Muslim immigrants angered at the alleged defacement of a Quran by a Greek policeman ended in a riot.
Police fired tear gas and stun grenades at hundreds of protesters outside parliament and elsewhere in the Athens city center. The government said 46 protesters were arrested and 75 cars were damaged.
Chanting "God is great!" and waving leather-bound copies of Islam's holy book, about 1,500 Muslim immigrants - mostly young men - marched to Parliament in the center of Athens to express their anger. The clashes occurred after the protest had dwindled to about 300.
Rioters hurled rocks at police and attacked police cordons with sticks and their belts, ignoring pleas for calm in Arabic and Greek from protest
organizers. The violence spread as young men overturned cars, set fire to
trash bins and attacked several banks.
Seven policemen and seven immigrants were being treated in hospital for
injuries, police said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1087514.html