Awwal 06, 1432, Feb 09, 2011, SPA-- Striking doctors scuffled with police outside Greece's parliament Wednesday, as anti-austerity protests in Greece spread beyond labor unions to professional groups and struggling retailers, AP reported. More than 1,000 doctors, some in white coats, staged the central Athens protest against plans to impose tougher monitoring rules for spending in the National Health Service. Police used a small amount of pepper spray during the brief scuffles, which ended without any injuries or arrests. The country's largest labor unions plan a general strike for Feb. 23, and announced Wednesday that retailers will also join the protest and close their stores for 24 hours. The Greek Confederation of Professionals, Craftsmen and Merchants said one in four of its small business members _ or 225,000 enterprises _ face the threat of closure in 2011. Prime Minister George Papandreou said his Socialist government had no choice but to press ahead with the painful reforms. «Even if we had a zero debt, we would had to implement radical reforms and changes to our development model. Otherwise, under the existing system, debts would soon appear,» Papandreou told a Cabinet meeting, broadcast live on a government webcast. On Wednesday, doctors at Greece' main public health insurer, IKA, continued rolling strikes, joined by state hospital doctors in greater Athens, as parliament is expected to approve the latest cost-cutting reforms later in the day. Doctors, lawyers, pharmacists, school teachers and public transport workers are all taking part in strikes this week against the latest round of austerity measures. The Socialist government has set in motion a series of longer-term austerity measures aimed at cutting overspending in return for international bailout loans worth ¤110 billion ($150 billion) through 2012. A team of inspectors supervising the bailout loan agreement began talks in Athens this week to review the Greek austerity program before approving the next payout worth ¤15 billion ($20.5 billion) in March. The March payment would be the fourth since Greece signed up to the program last May, and bring the total amount received by Greece so far to ¤53 billion ($72.2 billion). The country's largest union, the Socialist-led GSEE, accused the government of tolerating efforts by the debt inspectors to «uproot industrial relations and collective bargaining agreements ... targeting ordinary workers while leaving tax evaders and the financially powerful untouched.» -- SPA
