Zimbabwe doctors to be arrested

Nurses and doctors have seen their living standards slump

The government in Zimbabwe has ordered police to arrest all doctors on strike at government-run hospitals.

Last week a tribunal ruled that the strike was illegal, but doctors say they will not return until their demand for large pay rises is dealt with.

Nurses ended their strike action last week after the government promised to address their grievances.

Workers in Zimbabwe have seen their salaries decimated by one of the world's highest inflation rates.

Public Services Commission (PSC) head Mariyawanda Nzuwah told the state news agency, Ziana, that the doctors' demands for pay rises of up to 8,000% were "ridiculous and unacceptable". He said the doctors had "deliberately and intentionally violated the law and therefore committed a criminal offence". He told Ziana that even President Robert Mugabe did not earn the kind of salary they have asked for. Military doctors have been drafted in to attend to emergency cases at the hospitals affected by the strike.

Zimbabwe has seen a series of strikes in recent years as the economic crisis in the country has spiralled downwards.

Zimbabwe now has 70% unemployment, a 460% inflation rate, chronic food shortages and fuel price risen of more than 600% this year.

Critics blame President Robert Mugabe's poor management of the economy, but he blames international opponents of land reform.