Anti-US protests forced the Greek government to take unprecedented security measures last night as President Clinton flew into Athens at the start of what may well be his most controversial visit to a fellow NATO ally.
Banks and shops throughout the main commercial area were smashed and fires set across central Athens as Air Force One touched down, bringing the president, his wife and daughter for a stopover of under 24 hours.
Riot police fired tear gas to scatter an estimated 10,000 demonstrators in central Athens as Clinton's aircraft landed at Hellinikon airport, which was closed for an hour for his arrival. The demonstrators portrayed Clinton as the "Butcher of the Balkans" for his leadership of NATO's assault on Yugoslavia.
Riot police fired a volley of tear gas when demonstrators tried to push through their lines to march on the US embassy. Choking fumes drove demonstrators and bystanders alike rushing from central Syndagma Square.
Thirty-five fire engines were called out to extinguish blazes that were set across the city, some of which were still burning more than two hours later.
Sporadic clashed also continued into the evening.
At least 13 people were taken to hospital, police said.
In the northern port city of Thessaloniki, used by NATO to supply Kosovo troops, about 2,500 anti-Clinton demonstrators stormed the port. They tore down a EU flag and hoisted banners saying "Clinton get out" and "Killers go home".
Mr Clinton sought to soothe tempers with praise for Greece, saying its history has been a "model for young democracies". He also stressed that the US wanted to work with Greece to build foundations for "a Europe that is undivided, democratic and at peace for the first time in history".
Officials said about 7,000 police officers had been seconded to throw up a "wall of protection" around the US leader, whose visit was shortened to a 24-hour stopover because of security worries.
In recent weeks left-wing groups, denouncing Clinton as a "fascist murderer" for his policies in Kosovo have staged a string of bomb attacks on US interests.
The furore has quickly eclipsed what many had hoped would be the most serious effort yet to settle Greece's dispute with Turkey over Cyprus and the Aegean sea.
"The US State Department came close to cancelling the visit," said Mr John Sitilides, of the Washington-based Western Policy Centre.
Inflaming passions even more has been the belief that Washington will demand a much tougher stance from Athens in combatting terrorism - not least the November 17th group, which has acted with impunity since first emerging in 1974. The gang - named after the day on which students first rebelled against the military dictatorship - has assassinated 24 people, including four Americans.
Greeks still observe November 17th as an anniversary of vibrant anti-American fervour with marches to the US embassy often erupting in violence.
"Clinton is a symbol of all that is rotten about American policy," said Mr Thanassis Pafilis, a rally organiser. "It is the constitutional right of Greeks to demonstrate. We will use that right to protest from the moment he steps off the plane."