Zambia's Mwanawasa wins presidential race

LUSAKA, Oct 2 (Reuters) Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa won a second term in office in an election his challenger Michael Sata accused him of rigging, official results showed today.

The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) announced the final results after Sata conceded defeat but accused Mwanawasa of stealing victory.

Sata coupled his announcement with an appeal for calm after a night of violence and looting blamed by police on his supporters alleging poll rigging.

Yesterday's unrest forced the commission to delay its announcement while police deployed today in strength in anticipation of wider violence.

Sata's stronghold in the Copperbelt region, the hub of Zambia's mainstay copper production, was calm.

ECZ chairwoman Ireen Mambilima told a news conference Mwanawasa took 1,177,846 votes counted or 43 per cent. Sata scored 804,748 votes or 29 per cent. Wealthy businessman Hakainde Hichilema came third on 693,772 votes, or 25 per cent.

Mambilima said some 2.7 million people out of nearly four million registered had voted in the presidential and parliamentary polls on Thursday.

Chief Justice Ernest Sakala immediately declared Mwanawasa the winner and said he would be inaugurated tomorrow for a second and constitutionally final five-year term.

Sata appealed for calm after yesterday's violence, which forced banks and businesses in the capital to shut today.

Police fired teargas for the second straight day, dispersing protesters who had gathered in Lusaka's volatile Garden township, an opposition stronghold, witnesses said.

''We are not going to do anything to destroy Zambia, and I ask the people to keep calm even if they are angry,'' Sata told a news conference, reversing his earlier threat of dire consequences when he first raised charges of vote rigging.

''Levy has stolen victory, but this is just a temporary setback because we are going to fight on.'' CLOSE FIGHT Sata had looked set to sweep Mwanawasa from power on the back of strong support from Zambia's poor who are angry that economic reforms have not brought a better life for them. More than two thirds of Zambians live on less than 1 dollar a day.

But Mwanawasa, lauded by international donors for his reforms, streaked ahead in the vote count.

Sata said his Patriotic Front would wield significant political clout as it was set to control key municipalities in Lusaka and the Copperbelt.

''We are going to run the councils as corporate bodies and totally ignore the minister of local government,'' he said in a threat of looming friction with the central government.

The ECZ has promised results of voting for the national parliament and municipal councils for tomorrow.

The Southern African country is accustomed 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 is a 69-year-old populist who has praised the controversial land policies of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, had vowed to get tough with Chinese investors.

Mwanawasa, 58, campaigned on his economic record, which includes winning billions of dollars in debt relief and boosting economic growth to above 5 per cent.

Reuters SBA VP0105