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MBABANE, Swaziland (AP) - Banks operated with minimum staff and the important sugar refining industry all but ground to a halt Thursday as a pro-democracy strike gripped Swaziland.
Some 5,000 demonstrators pushed for multiparty elections in Africa's last absolute monarchy amid tight security in the capital, Mbabane. They protested King Mswati III's sweeping powers and objected to his economic policies, including plans to tax pensions.
"The government of the day does not have the interests of the nation at heart," said Jan Sithole, general secretary of the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions. "This is a struggle for everyone. Even those who are not taking part in this will eventually become involved."
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