Greek Characters in Google AutoSuggest API

[ryusama]

I am trying to use the google auto suggest API with PHP to capture search suggestions in Greek. I have tried 2 different ways and the Google API returns correct results but the native PHP json_decode() cant handle the greek characters and simplexml_load_string() throws an encoding error. When I use utf8_encode() first, the Greek characters become random letters or question marks in black diamonds when echoed out in a browser.Failed Method One:http://suggestqueries.google.com/complete/search?hl=el&ie=UTF-8&client=firefox&q=