Anti-bailout demonstrators rally in Greece

Athens

Some 17,000 people took to the streets of Athens and Thessaloniki today to say 'No' to the latest offer of a bailout deal, accusing Greece's international creditors of blackmail.

"Our lives do not belong to the creditors!" read banners held aloft by demonstrators, many of whom support Prime Minister Alexis Tspiras and said they would heed his call to vote against the latest deal in a referendum on yesterday-- despite the risks the country might then go crashing out of the eurozone.

"The people of Greece have made many sacrifices. What interests me is not the euro but guaranteeing a dignified way of life for the next generations," 50-year-old Vanguelis Tseres, who has been unemployed since the start of the debt crisis in 2010, told AFP in Syntagma square in the capital.

European leaders had earlier today pleaded with Greek voters to back the hotly disputed bailout proposals or face leaving the euro.

EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker warned Greeks they "shouldn't choose suicide just because you are afraid of death," urging them to vote "Yes" as a "No" vote would be a no to Europe.

But Loula Bakrina, a petite blonde, said she "will say no because I want my children to be free."

A demonstration in favour of the bailout deal was due to be held on Tuesday.