Zambians loot shops as poll violence mounts

LUSAKA, Oct 1 (Reuters) Zambians today looted shops and blocked roads with burning tyres as violence mounted ahead of final results in a presidential election the opposition says has been rigged in favour of the incumbent.

Witnesses said protesters looted a supermarket owned by South African retailer Shoprite and other shops in three Lusaka townships as unrest spread in the copper-producing country.

Opposition supporters blocked streets with burning tyres and hurled stones at police after officials delayed announcing final results of the election for 12 hours until 1330 hrs IST tomorrow.

for ''security reasons''. Police fired back volleys of tear gas.

President Levy Mwanawasa, who surged ahead in vote counting today, called for calm but said police would deal firmly with those trying to ''sabotage'' the vote.

Mwanawasa denied charges by his main challenger Michael Sata that the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) conspired with election officials to rig the vote, saying the election was free and fair.

''It is clear that some political parties want to cause confusion and I ask all peace loving Zambians to say no to violence,'' he said in an address to the nation on state TV.

''I want to appeal for calm and peace. The law enforcement agencies will deal firmly with all troublemakers and those who want to sabotage the elections.'' ''WE WILL HIT BACK'' The dramatic turn of events contrasted with orderly voting on Thursday in what poll observers described as a model African election.

The Southern African country whose mainstay is copper exports is used to accusations of vote fraud -- most recently in the 2001 elections that brought Mwanawasa to power. But Zambia has largely escaped the political violence that has dogged many other African countries.

Sata, who has praised the controversial land reform policies of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and pledged to get tough with Chinese investors, has warned of ''severe consequences'' if his protests about vote rigging are ignored.

The former cabinet minister had looked set to trounce Mwanawasa, who has won praise from international donors for his economic policies but struggled to win support among the poor.

But Sata, who enjoys strong support in Zambia's key copper-producing region, today slid to third place. Sata said more than 400,000 ballots had been spoiled or stolen.

Partial results from the electoral commission gave Mwanawasa 42 per cent of votes counted, compared to 28 per cent for Hakainde Hichilema of the United Democratic Alliance and 27 per cent for Sata, of the Patriotic Front.

The results covered 120 of 150 constituencies and 2.26 million of some 4 million Zambians registered to vote.

Zambia's police chief vowed to take a tough line with protesters -- most of whom support Sata.

''We shouldn't be pushed too far otherwise we will hit back harder,'' police chief Ephraim Mateyo told state television.

He declined to comment to Reuters on whether looting had taken place.

Police earlier charged 70 opposition supporters after they protested outside the main counting centre in Lusaka.

Mwanawasa, 58, is running for a second and final five-year term based on his economic record, which included winning billions of dollars in debt relief and boosting economic growth above 5 per cent.

REUTERS SBA PM0114