German FM in Athens holds crisis talks with top officials

(ATHENS) - Germany's foreign minister met Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos on Sunday to discuss the financial crisis, ahead of more tough talks this week between debt-crippled Greece and the eurozone.

Guido Westerwelle made no comment to the press after the meeting, but German foreign ministry spokesman Andreas Peschke had already said Friday the financial crisis in Greece would be at the top of the agenda.

Westerwelle is also due to meet Greek Foreign Minister Stavros Dimas and Antonis Samaras, the head of the New Democracy party, which is part of the governing coalition and currently leading the opinion polls.

A press statement is expected after those meetings.

His visit comes two days after talks between Greece and private bank creditors on a critical debt writedown stalled.

That raised fears of a damaging default that would plunge the eurozone even deeper into crisis after Standard and Poor's ratings agency downgraded several EU countries Friday.

The proposed deal would have seen banks taking a voluntary 50 percent "haircut" on their Greek debt, which would cut about 100 billion euros ($127 billion) from Athens' massive debt burden that currently exceeds 350 billion.

On Tuesday, the so-called "troika" of international auditors returns to Athens to assess Greek efforts to cut its deficit and launch structural reforms.

A day later, on Wednesday, talks will resume between Greek leaders and private investors, headed by IIF managing director Charles Dallara.