Flames near Athens recede after 3-day inferno

Helped by a lull in winds, fire fighters on Monday beat back wildfires that swept through suburbs of Athens and forced thousands of people to flee their homes, Reuters reported.

The government, however, faced criticism over its handling of the crisis which could hurt its prospects in an expected snap election later this year.

A dozen Greek, Italian and French fire-fighting planes battled flames that destroyed homes and swathes of forest near the Greek capital and weather officials said winds were expected to die down as of Monday evening.

"The picture is better in east Attica, there are no significant active fronts but the risk of flare-ups remains," fire brigade spokesman Giannis Kapakis said.

Authorities said about 150 houses were damaged by the fires, still smoldering in east Attica, where a state of emergency was declared on Saturday. Efforts were now focused on blazes on the island of Evia and near the west Attica town of Porto Germeno.

The fires had retreated from Athens suburbs late on Sunday, when authorities used loudspeakers to urge thousands to leave their communities. A children's hospital, a home for the elderly and a monastery were evacuated.

While thousands abandoned what are mainly holiday homes around Athens, many frantically used garden hoses and tree branches to try to stop the flames reaching their properties.

The battle against the fire, the biggest since Greece's worst wildfires in living memory killed 65 people in 2007, will be crucial to Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, who had been mulling a reshuffle before an early election this autumn.

"The fire has put a stop to a possible reshuffle this week," the pro-government Apogevmatini daily said.

Karamanlis's government is clinging to a one-seat majority and the socialist opposition, ahead in opinion polls, has made clear it will force a snap poll and use a March parliamentary vote, when a new president will be chosen, to achieve that.