Thousands of students have been sent home and riot police are patrolling the city centre.

One report said police entered the University of Zimbabwe campus after overnight disturbances, and fired teargas to disperse the protesters who had thrown up barricades.

The students began demonstrating last week, demanding an increase in grants and an end to what they say is widespread government corruption.

Students hope President Mugabe will follow the fate of Indonesia's Suharto

Student leaders have warned President Mugabe could suffer the fate of Indonesia's former president Suharto who resigned last month after a student-led campaign.

On Monday, student leaders sent a petition to the president calling for the setting up of a commission of inquiry to examine the allegations against his administration.

Home Affairs Minister Dumiso Dabengwa accused unnamed opposition forces of funding the protests, saying they had a hidden agenda.

"We already know who is sponsoring and who is supplying them," he told state radio, but he gave no further details.

President Mugabe has been in power since the former British colony of Rhodesia became independent Zimbabwe in 1980.

He denies his government is corrupt and has dismissed demands that he should quit in the face of an economic and social crisis.

The 74-year old leader's current presidential term ends in the year 2002, and he says he feels young, competent and in control.

But over the last six months Mugabe has been rocked by a wave of violent protests over taxes, food prices, war veteran payouts, corruption and student grants.