The plans include keeping shops as well as banks open on weekends, shutting businesses near event sites during the 18-day games in mid-August and massive fines for parking violations.

"The ATHOC organising committee has informed the government of certain measures needed regarding shop hours and other functions of the city which will help the games run smoothly and control crowds taking part, directly or indirectly in the Games," an ATHOC source told Reuters.

The source stressed the measures were similar to laws introduced in other cities that have hosted recent Olympics like Sydney and Salt Lake City.

The respected Kathimerini newspaper said the measures were outlined in a letter sent by Athens Organising Committee (ATHOC) chief Gianna Angelopoulos to 13 government ministers charged with drafting laws to allow the measures to be introduced.

It said other measures were bans on both public and private gatherings at sensitive locations for security reasons as well as to ensure smooth movement of traffic and people.

"Athens will look like a city in a state of siege, during the Olympic Games of 2004. The draft that ATHOC president Gianna Angelopoulos sent to the government resembles the regulations of military law," the newspaper said.

STRONG OPPOSITION

Some of the plans, particularly on rights of assembly, were expected to run into strong opposition from civil rights groups who have jealously guarded the country's constitution since Greece endured seven years of military rule from 1967 to 1974.

Organisers of the last summer Olympics in Sydney in 2000 also ran into opposition on rights of assembly when they introduced similar measures and in some cases were forced to back down.

Proposed fines for parking violations were set at up to 1,000 euros ($1,075) -- more than 10 times the present amount -- plus loss of a driving licence for a month.

Companies employing five or more people must give employees at least half of their annual leave during the Games to encourage Athens residents to take holidays outside the city to ease congestion.

The extended shopping and bank hours were proposed to cater for the hundreds of thousands of tourists who would flood into the city during the Games. At present banks are only open during weekdays and shut mid-afternoon.

Many measures go to the heart of Athens organisers' greatest challenges in staging the Games -- security, because of the September 11 terror attacks on the United States, and smooth traffic movement in a city notorious for crowded roads.

Authorities also plan street camera surveillance of many areas, another issue that could run into trouble with civil liberty groups.

"ATHOC considers new legislation imperative, since most of the proposals contradict the Greek constitution," Kathimerini said.