Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou. Source: AP
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.
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The news spooked markets around the world.
The Greek drama overshadowed the opening of the G-20 summit in Cannes, on the French Riviera.
Meeting ahead of the summit, Europe's leaders made plain to Papandreou that they had reached the end of their patience with Greece, demanding that the beleaguered nation declare whether it wants to stay in the euro currency union - or risk going it alone in a dramatic secession.
US President Barack Obama said that world leaders needed to "fully and decisively" work out the details of how Europe can solve its debt crisis at the meeting.
"The [European Union] has made some important steps toward a comprehensive solution," Mr Obama said in a statement after a meeting with French president Nicolas Sarkozy. "We're at the G-20, we're going to have to flesh out more of the details about how the plan will be fully and decisively implemented."
The announcement comes as a defiant Mr Papandreou stated he would not stand down as PM, following a party revolt over his announcement of a referendum.
"The country has an elected government and an elected prime minister, and they will take decisions soon," government spokesman Elias Mossialos told reporters outside parliament as he entered the cabinet meeting.
The Greek government was hanging on by a thread as allies and opponents alike revolted against the referendum plan that threatened to derail a massive EU bailout for the debt-ridden nation.
Mr Papandreou looks set to lose his parliamentary majority in the confidence vote, further adding to the political turmoil.
Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos - a former challenger for the Pasok leadership - came out strongly against the referendum, warning it could scupper the hard-won 100-billion-euro bailout.
Mr Papandreou was summoned to Cannes Wednesday by furious eurozone leaders concerned that the deal hammered out last week to slash Greece's debt by almost a third would be dealt a death blow by the referendum planned for next month.
European leaders warned that if Greece does not respect the terms of the rescue deal, it will not get "one more cent" from the next planned installment of EU and IMF funds.
And the European Commission said that under EU treaties it would be impossible for a member state to exit the euro without also leaving the European Union.
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