Security forces fired bullets at hundreds of student protesters on Monday who were demanding that the governement resign amidst deepening economic hardship and general strike that entered its fifth day.

"Change today or never." read placards held by some of the roughly 500 student demonstrators. They demanded that the government negociate in good faith with workers' unions that are leading the strike action to demand lower prices for fuel and rice.

The students clashed  with about 200 security forces who used batons to beat them back before they reached paliament. AT least three people were seriuosly injured and about 20 others were arrested, according to eyewitnesses.

By Monday afternoon, Conakry city centre was calm, but violence erupted in the northern neighbourhoods of Bambeto, Matoto and Kipe where unemployed youths rioted and looted. Unrest was also reported in the norther twon of Labe, where youthsransacked the local government administrative office.

"This is a continued feature of Guinea public life," West African analyst Bram Posthumus, who has reported extensively on Guinea. "What would be more worrying is if this became generalised chaos."

Although fighting occasionally spilled across border onto Guinea from Sierra Leone and Liberia, the country has largely been spared from the conflict that wracked its neighbours. There have been persistent fears that a bloody power struggle could ensue should ailing President Lansana Conte die suddenly. However Fode Bangoura surfaced as a possibble heir apparent during a government reshuffle in May that saw hardliners replace reformers. Bangoura who has been close to Conte for years, was appoimnted to head the powerful Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs.

With the reappearance of the hardliners, an impasse between the administration and strike leaders appears more likely than a compromise in the short term. It is the second time Guineans have undertaken a general strike this year. Unions claimed victory when the government promised salary increases for government workers and a new minimum wage for everyone else.