A general strike called by Zimbabwe’s opposition party got off to a slow start today amid fears that authorities would crack down hard on any unrest.

Large numbers of riot police could be seen in Harare's central business district this morning, where most shops and services were open. There were no immediate reports of violence.

The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), whose leader Morgan Tsvangirai has claimed victory over President Robert Mugabe in the March 29 poll, called the strike after failing to win a court order for the election results to be published immediately.

Most shops today opened for business, with long queues at banks and customers in supermarkets lined up to buy bread.

“I did not even know about this stayaway,” said Mthandazo Ncube, as he headed to work in central Harare.

“The MDC should have spread the word around first before embarking on the stayaway."

Police announced yesterday that they intended to deal “severely and firmly” with any unrest, and that both police and army reinforcements had been deployed.

“The (strike) is aimed at disturbing peace and will be resisted firmly by the law enforcement agents whose responsibility is to maintain law and order in any part of the country,” said Wayne Bvudzijena, a national police spokesman.

Police roadblocks had been set up overnight along the routes to the city centre. At a checkpoint in the heavily-populated suburb of Mbare, police were ordering passengers out of commuter buses before searching them.

“We were waiting for the presidential results but since the courts dismissed the application there is nothing we can do,” said bank teller Winnie Kaizare.“It seems everything is controlled by the government."

Previous general strikes have not been widely observed in Zimbabwe. With inflation running at 100,000 percent and unemployment above 80 percent, few of those still in work are willing to risk a day’s pay.

At the weekend the MDC claimed one of its election agents had been stabbed to death by Mugabe supporters in what is alleged was the first politically motivated killing since the polls.

Police confirmed that the agent, Tapiwa Mubwanda, had been killed but said the motive had yet to be established.

The MDC yesterday launched a court bid to challenge the result of 60 seats won by Mugabe’s Zanu (PF) party in the parliamentary election that was held on the same day as the presidential poll. The opposition is also challenging a decision by the electoral commission to recount 23 constituencies which could overthrow the parliamentary majority the MDC won for the first time on March 29.

The United States and Britain will raise the Zimbabwe crisis at a UN Security Council meeting tomorrow, despite South African opposition, Western diplomats said today. “We intend to highlight our concern for Zimbabwe,” confirmed Benjamin Chang, a spokesman for the US mission to the United Nations.

The meeting will be hosted by South Africa, which chairs the 15-member council this month, to discuss ways to boost security cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union.

Dumisani Kumalo, South Africa’s UN Ambassador, voicing his country's opposition, said that Zimbabwe was not on the council's agenda and was best handled by Zimbabwe’s neighbours in the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

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