Deal to bail out Greece

Euro zone finance ministers were to confer by telephone on Saturday after 12 hours of talks in Athens failed to produce a breakthrough on a deal to bail out Greece, the Greek finance minister said.

Greek state-employed mechanics protest against salary cuts and layoffs as talks on a bailout continue.

Evangelos Venizelos added that a planned meeting by euro zone ministers on Greece originally scheduled for Monday would now be held on Wednesday. He said he would take part in the telephone conference scheduled for 1230 GMT to discuss details of a rescue deal for Greece worth 130 billion euros (US$171 billion) which officials have been trying to seal since October.

"Critical issues pertaining to the country's future remained open" after 12 hours of "tough" negotiations Friday with the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank, he said.

The three organisations, which rescued Greece in 2010 with an earlier loan, are demanding further labour cost cuts which Greek unions are refusing to concede amid fears that they could worsen an already deep recession.
Venizelos will brief fellow cabinet ministers before another meeting with senior audito