LUSAKA: Zambian President Frederick Chiluba yesterday declared a state of emergency in the country one day after crushing an attempted coup against his rule.
Chiluba's political opponent, former president Kenneth Kaunda, said the state of emergency signalled a wider clampdown. State House minister Eric Silwamba said it granted the police wide power to regulate public gatherings and detain suspects.
However, calm returned to the capital yesterday after Chiluba survived the coup attempt by rebel soldiers in which one dissident was killed and 17 arrested. The government earlier said it did not suspect political opponents of stirring trouble. But speculation that opposition parties may have backed the attempt has been fuelled by Kaunda's predictions last week of an impending ''political explosion''.
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