Athens - Experts from the British police organization Scotland Yard are to aid Greece in battling an ongoing wave of violence and crack down on radical leftwing underground organizations, the Kathimerini newspaper reported Sunday.

The help from Scotland Yard, the first of which is to arrive in Greece on Monday, comes after contacts at the highest level between the governments in Athens and London, the report said.

Greece has been plagued by political violence since December 2008, including automatic weapons attacks on police, and almost daily bombings and arson attacks on banks and multinational businesses.

On Friday, around 40 masked rioters ran through central Athens with axes and iron rods, destroying shop windows of more than 50 businesses and damaging dozens of cars.

According to the Greek press, the police were taken completely unawares and had no plan on how to react with such actions.

In mid-December, the worst riots Greece had seen in decades were triggered by the fatal shooting of a teenager by police in central Athens. The Greek capital and dozens of other cities around the country were crippled for days by arson and looting. (dpa)