Zimbabwe unions scale back strike

The strike is likely to be widely observed in the cities

Zimbabwe's trade union movement says it has reduced to just one day a general strike called to press the government to restore law and order.

A Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions official said the leadership had resolved to limit the stoppage to Wednesday rather than for three days to give the government a chance to respond.

The unions called the strike because they say the government is refusing to stop intimidation and attacks on farmers and labourers by war veterans occupying hundreds of white-owned farms.

White farmers and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change are also supporting the strike which poses the first major challenge for President Robert Mugabe's government since they narrowly won elections last month.

Acting ZCTU Secretary-General Nicholas Mudzengerere said: "We have taken this decision because we want to use the strike as a warning shot and we think one day would be adequate."

"We want to give the government time to respond. If the government does not respond, we will go on a much longer strike."

VioIence

Some war veterans are refusing government orders to quit the farms they occupied, and the situation has been described by the Commercial Farmer's Union, which represents white farmers, as close to "total anarchy".

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was head of the ZCTU

More than 30 people, many of them opposition supporters, have died in violence leading up to last month's election.

The Zimbabwean Government has criticised the strike as "ill-advised" but says it will not intervene.

Correspondents say the strike call is likely to be widely observed in towns and cities, where discontent with the ruling party is profound, as shown by the government's poor showing in urban areas in last month's elections.