Strike bites in Haitian capital

Resentment against Aristide has been increasing in recent months

Many businesses in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince have shut down after the opposition called a general strike.

Shops, petrol stations and banks closed their doors while only smaller stores opened and few cars took to the roads.

But there was little sign of a business slow-down in Cap-Haitien, Haiti's second city, witnesses said.

Opponents of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide are calling for the strike to continue on Friday to force him to be replaced by a transitional government.

The strike followed a day of violent protests, in which at least two people died and more than 20 were injured.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Thursday he was "very disturbed" by the situation in Haiti.

He added that the US would press Mr Aristide and the opposition to "provide a constitutional way forward so that the people of Haiti can express their will".

'Save Haiti!'

Wednesday's violence began when protest marchers encountered armed supporters of President Aristide. Police officers also intervened.

Q&A: Protests in Haiti Profile: President Aristide

The streets of Port-au-Prince were quiet on Thursday, though government offices were open and street vendors remained at work.

"Strikes aren't for poor people," one market vendor told the Associated Press news agency.

"The majority voted for Aristide and want him to finish his term."

However opposition adverts on local radio stations called on Haitians to continue the strike.

"Everybody stay home! Aristide has to go for Haiti to be saved!" they said.

The opposition accuses President Aristide of corruption and is calling for him to leave power.

Resentment against the president, a former Roman Catholic priest, has been increasing over recent months.

Last week, violent confrontations overshadowed celebrations to mark 200 years since Haiti gained independence from France to become the first country in the western hemisphere to abolish slavery.

Stalemate

Mr Aristide has pledged to hold fresh legislative elections this year but also says he plans to serve out his term until 2006. His opponents want him to go now.

He has been locked in stalemate with the opposition since 2000, when he returned to power in a landslide election which his opponents say was rigged.

The opposition say Mr Aristide has repressed dissent and mismanaged the economy.

Haiti, the poorest nation in the western hemisphere, has had 53 different leaders since independence.

Twenty-one were overthrown and just eight survived a full term in office.