Greek leaders face crunch talks as unions strike

ATHENS: Greek leaders face crunch talks on Tuesday to secure a new international bailout and avoid a chaotic debt default, caught between EU demands that they accept painful reforms now and a national strike against more austerity.

Prime Minister Lucas Papademos negotiated through most of the night with Greece's European Union and IMF lenders, ending at 4 a.m. (0200 GMT) when the 24-hour strike was about to begin, closing ports and tourist sites and disrupting public transport.

Papademos, a technocrat parachuted in to lead the Greek government late last year, must persuade leaders of the three parties in his coalition government to accept the EU/IMF conditions for the 130-billion-euro ($170-billion) rescue.

"We must find a solution today," said one government official before the leaders' talks, which are expected to start later in the day.

With Greece's future in the euro zone in question, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Athens on Monday to make up its mind fast if it would accept the deal - and its conditions of reforms to make the economy more competitive that are certain to lead to big cuts in living standards.

Finance Minister Evanagelos Venizelos said talks with the "troika" of lenders - the European Commission, European Central Bank and IMF - were not going well.

"Unfortunately the negotiations are so tough that as soon as one chapter closes, another opens," he said after meeting troika officials on Monday night.

Early on Tuesday, the strike called by the private and public sector unions GSEE and ADEDY began to bite, bringing the country's main port to a standstill.

"No ships departed from Piraeus port this morning, as a result of the seamen's strike," said a coast guard official.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2012