Athens - A thick cloud of du

Athens  - A Greek police officer shot and seriously wounded a security guard outside the US ambassador's residence in Athens Wednesday, local media reports said.

They said the officer, who had 13 years' experience on patrol outside the ambassador's residence, had been standing over the body of the security guard when other forces arrived at the scene.

The security guard was in serious condition and in hospital after being shot in the neck twice.

Athens/Nicosia - Rival leaders seeking a solution to reunify the divided Mediterranean island of Cyprus focused talks Wednesday on the complex legal issue of settlement and property disputes, where thousands of individuals stake a claim on property seized decades ago.

Emerging after nearly four hours of talks, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General Taye-Brook Zerihoun told reporters that Greek Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Tatat continued talks on property and are to meet again on February 12.

Despite the enthusiasm that greeted a new round of peace talks in September following a four-year stalemate, weekly talks between Christofias and Talat failed to produce a breakthrough in 2008.

Athens - Angry Greek farmers who have been blocking the northern border with Bulgaria demanding compensation for low prices were scheduled to decide later Wednesday on the future of their protest.

The farmers have closed off the main Promachonas border for the past two weeks and for the past two days have not allowed any trucks loaded with perishable goods to cross the border.

Trucks and vehicles headed for Bulgaria are re-routing to the Exohi border crossing at Drama, 30 kilometres away.

Athens - Greek riot police fired tear gas and clashed with protesting farmers at the port of Piraeus for a second day Tuesday after farmers attempted to break through a police barricade.

More than 2,000 farmers from the Greek Mediterranean island of Crete remained camped out at Piraeus, the main port on the mainland, throughout Tuesday.

Hundreds more had joined them after arriving on passenger ferries early Tuesday to protest low commodity prices and demand fresh subsidies.