Awwal 09, 1432, Feb 12, 2011, SPA -- Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou complained to IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Saturday, saying the behaviour of IMF inspectors monitoring a multi-billion euro bailout was "unacceptable.", according to Reuters. In a rare, harsh attack on the international lenders who saved the country from bankruptcy last year, the government told them to stop interfering in domestic affairs, but did so only after local media had criticised it for not responding to the inspectors' calls for faster and more drastic action. The EU, IMF and ECB inspectors gave deeply indebted Greece the green light for more aid on Friday, but struck a more critical note than on previous visits, saying Athens must speed up reforms, fight vested interests and sell off far more assets. Papandreou had a phone conversation with Strauss-Kahn "in which he conveyed the message of the Greek government about the unacceptable behaviour of the representatives of the European Commission, ECB and IMF during yesterday's news conference," Papandreou's office said in a statement. The government issued the statement after coming under fire from local media for not reacting to the inspectors' criticism of some professions for holding repeated strikes, and their call on the government to accelerate the pace of privatisations to help turn the economy around. Earlier in the day, government spokesman George Petalotis said "We asked nobody to interfere in domestic affairs ... We have needs but also limits, and we are not negotiating with anybody the limits of our self-respect. We only take orders from the Greek people." -- SPA
