Greek far-Right victims of shootout buried

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The two Greek far-Right Golden Dawn (Chryssi Avgi) party members who were shot dead on Friday in Athens were buried on Monday afternoon.

Counter terrorism police continued investigation to trace the assailants and visiting European Parliament President Martin Schulz deplored violence.

Relatives and friends attended the funerals of 26-year-old Yorgos Fountoulis and 22-year-old Manolis Kapelonis who were murdered outside the party's offices in a northern Athens suburb, making pleas for an end to the vicious cycle of political violence in the debt-laden country.

Stressing the call for unity among Greek peoples regardless of political ideologies, Fountoulis' family had asked politicians of all parties to stay away from the service.

"We do not want to hear slogans such as Blood, honor, Golden Dawn (the party's slogan)," the family said in a statement.

Similar pleas for an end to violence were made by the mother of 29-year-old Alexandros Yerontas who was seriously injured during Friday's attack and is hospitalized in critical condition.

Meanwhile authorities have been examining footage of the attack which shocked Greece and other clues to identify the two perpetrators who gunned down the three young men with automatic weapons.

Suspicions fall on Leftist guerilla groups who have been active in Greece for years, targeting political and financial targets, according to police sources.

Counter-terrorism experts expected a terrorist attack over the past few months and fear another one in the near future, according to the same sources.

They suspect that Friday's hit was in retaliation for the fatal stabbing of a Leftist anti-fascism activist by a Golden Dawn supporter in September.

The killing of Pavlos Fyssas led to nationwide protests and crackdown on the party which has been linked to violent attacks against political opponents and migrants.

The Golden Dawn party entered the Greek parliament for the first time in last year's general elections, winning 7 percent of the vote and 18 seats in the 300-member chamber.

The neo-Nazi party capitalized on Greeks' disillusionment after the harsh austerity introduced to tackle the debt crisis in 2010.

Addressing a forum in Athens on Monday on the path to boost growth in Southern Europe which has been most affected by the crisis, Schulz stressed that the top priority should be efforts to counter unemployment among youth.

"People do not vote for extremists because they are neo-Nazis, but because they are desperate," he said, adding that violence is a "sign of instability."

All political parties in Greece, analysts and media saw Friday's killings as another step which undermines democracy and the country. Endi

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