74-year-old Harikleia Ananiadou, a woman from Thessaloniki, has received 13,000 euros from anarchists to rebuild her life.

The organization, calling itself "Anarchist Initiative", set up a special bank account to support the lady. A statement sent to the daily paper Eleftherotypia declared :

"As anarchists, we felt we should support a fellow human victimised by blind violence"

"We gave what we could, even beyond our means, because we know that it would be difficult for her to make a new start at her age," said one of the members, Panagiotis Papadopoulos.

"It was an act of solidarity to a woman who could be our mother," he added.

Ananiadou’s kiosk burned down in November during clashes between youths and police on the sidelines of a street demonstration.

The government recently announced compensation packages for business owners who suffered damage in the wave of violence that swept the country in December following the fatal shooting of a teenage boy.

But Mrs. Ananiadou said that she had not received anything because her kiosk was burnt a month earlier.

"I received only empty promises (from the state)...I feel very fortunate that these boys came along to help," she said.

(Agence France Presse, 20 janvier 2009 16:15)