ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Several thousand Orthodox Christian fundamentalists have marched through central Athens to protest a government plan to issue new electronic ID cards they say would include the number 666, or the "number of the beast," hidden in a design.
The protesters claim the state aims for tighter control over its citizens and many believe that the design of the cards includes the number described in the Book of Revelation. The cards will include biometric information.
The mostly elderly crowd includes hundreds of Orthodox priests, monks and nuns and a few dozen members of far-right groups. Most of the crowd dispersed upon reaching the Parliament at Athens' central Syntagma Square, heading off to dozens of waiting buses that have carried them from across the country.
