By Dina Kyriakidou

ATHENS, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Greek opposition parties attacked the conservative government on Monday over its handling of devastating forest fires that have killed 63 people in four days and left thousands homeless.

Leftist protesters marched through Athens shouting "down with the government" ahead of Sept. 16 snap elections.

"This government was proven to be totally incompetent, unable to handle the fire crisis, like all the other crises it encountered in its four-year administration," socialist opposition leader George Papandreou said.

He joined a chorus of criticism by smaller parties contesting the parliamentary election, which may decide the pace of reforms Greece needs to catch up with its euro zone partners.

Political analysts say the effect of the fires on the election were not immediately clear and would depend on how the public perceives the government's handling of the crisis.

The conservatives have seen difficult economic policies and reforms erode their support since sweeping to power in 2004 and were leading the socialists by 1-2 percentage points in opinion polls before the fires swept the country.

"This may have the 'rally around the flag' effect if the government handles it right. But it will be punished if it handles it wrong," said Yannis Mavris, head of the VPRC polling institute.

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis rushed to the site of the first big fires to offer support and announced relief measures for the affected areas, saying the flurry of fires could not be a coincidence.

Analysts said he appeared as a caring leader close to his people. But firefighting and rescue efforts were met with scathing press criticism as TV showed pictures of desperate villagers using hoses and buckets to put out fires, pleading for help that often came too late to save their homes. "Incompetent!" was the front-page headline in the respected daily Eleftherotypia, which accused the government of inventing a massive organised arson plan to justify its inability to deal with the crisis.

"The government invented the scenario of a 'disproportionate threat' to justify its incompetence, the dramatic lack of coordination and complete disorganisation of the state," it said in its main editorial.

Government ministers have alluded to organised groups who have lit the fires simultaneously and the public prosecutor was asked to see if they could be investigated and prosecuted.

So far, only a few elderly people and two boys have been charged with setting fires.

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