UPDATE 6.50am: GREEK Prime Minister George Papandreou has dramatically scrapped plans for a referendum on the proposed European bailout.
Mr Papandreou has been under intense pressure to stand down, after a split emerged in his government over the plans to hold a public vote on the rescue deal.
The American-born premier is not intending to quit, and will instead hold talks with the opposition over their calls for a transitional government and early elections.
"The referendum was never an end in itself," Mr Papandreou told an emergency meeting of his cabinet. "We had a dilemma - either true assent or a referendum. I said yesterday, if the assent were there, we would not need a referendum."
Mr Papandreou announced the referendum late Monday, surprising his Socialist party colleagues, eurozone governments and investors.
The news spooked markets around the world........read on
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