Greece's coalition government had approved a eurozone debt deal that were tabled in parliament for a vote over the weekend, local ANA agency said early Saturday.

Riot police walk past a fire set by protesters in Athens, Greece, Feb. 9, 2012. Trade unions and leftist groups demonstrate against the new memorandum signed by the three-party coalition government and the troika (IMF, EU, European Central Bank), which includes further wage and pension cuts. [Xinhua]

The cabinet unanimously approved the deal, accompanying austerity measures, which aroused new round of protests but was believed to save Greece from a disorderly default in March.

A new 48-hour general strike which has paralyzed the public sector was launched on Friday and a string of demonstrations were staged nationwide ahead of a critical parliamentary vote on Sunday on the harsh terms of the bailout deal clinched earlier this week.

Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos urged the parties supporting his three-month-old administration to make the right choice and push through the measures. Otherwise, Greece faces "a catastrophe," he warned, when addressing the cabinet on Friday night.