Teachers in Zimbabwe may strike

HARARE, Zimbabwe, May 5 (UPI) -- The Progressive Teachers Union in Zimbabwe said Sunday its members will strike if government attacks on them continue.

Supporters of President Robert Mugabe have attacked 133 teachers, the union said, and hundreds more have gone into hiding for fear of assault. The union said it did not endorse either Zanu-PF or the opposition Movement for Democratic Change during the election of March 29.

Many union members were poll watchers. Leaders say they were assumed to be supporters of MDC, and some have been viciously attacked.

"They were beaten with iron bars, some have had their legs and limbs and hands seriously injured," union leader Raymond Majongwe told the BBC. "Quite a lot have been hit on the head and its quite tragic, it's terrible."

The MDC captured a narrow parliamentary majority. In the presidential race, official results, disputed by the MDC, were that Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition leader, outpolled Mugabe but did not get the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff.