Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou won a nail-biting confidence vote in parliament early Saturday after vowing to form a government of national unity in the crisis-hit country.

Papandreou carried the vote, watched nervously by financial markets and fellow European leaders, despite a razor-thin majority for his socialist party and a rebellion within the ranks.

A total of 153 deputies among 298 present approved the motion, the parliament speaker said.

Calling for a 'broad' coalition to put into action a massive EU bailout package designed to keep the debt-laden country afloat, the hard-pressed premier told parliament he was open to a government of national unity.

Shortly before lawmakers began voting, Papandreou had announced he would see the Greek president later on Saturday to hand in his mandate and start talks on the formation of such a government.

"Honest and broad backing is called for," he told deputies ahead of the vote. "The changes that need to take place are historic and require citizens' participation."

During the debate on the confidence vote, Papandreou's ministers said Greece's squabbling politicians must work together to pull the country out of the deadlock which makes bankruptcy more likely.

THOUSANDS PROTEST

As the debate took place, several thousand communists staged noisy protest in front of the flood-lit building.

Chanting, banging drums and waving red and Greek flags, the protestors overflowed the central Syntagma Square under the watchful eye of several hundred police officers carrying riot gear.

In a poignant expression of the hardships ordinary Greeks are suffering, one little girl, high on her father's shoulders, carried a sign which read: "My grandma needs care, my mother wants a job and I want schoolbooks."

The debate capped a tumultuous week for Greece that began with a disastrous call by Papandreou to hold a referendum on the 100 billion euro EU bailout package that sparked revolt in his own party and roiled financial markets.

Analysts have warned that renewed political uncertainty could halt the disbursement of a new eight-billion-euro ($11-billion) loan package that Greece needs by December 15 to pay the bills.

Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, who earlier informed Greece's EU partners that the referendum plan had been scrapped, said the aim of the confidence vote would be to form a national unity government.

'TO SAVE THE COUNTRY'

Papandreou's call for a referendum earned him a humiliating dressing-down this week from European leaders, who warned it could derail the rescue package and even raised questions about Greece's continued EU membership.

"I have excluded nothing from the discussion" with his political opponents, Papandreou told lawmakers.

"Even my own position. And I am not tied to any particular post. I have already said that and I am proving it daily. Even my re-election does not interest me. What interests me is saving the country," the prime minister added.

As uncertainty grew over the outcome of the chaos in Athens, stock markets closed lower, with Greece's stock market down 1.17 percent.

On the street, people appeared to be in favour of a government of national unity. One pensioner who gave his name as Takis, told the media: "As matters stand, nothing can save us.

"There must be a government of national salvation with all the parties until we have elections. They way things are now George (Papandreou) cannot continue."