Man held after Caracas gunfight

Venezuelan federal security police arrested a man after a raid on a building in an opposition stronghold in Caracas on Friday night.

Reports said there were bursts of gunfire in Caracas' eastern Altamira Square, a bastion of opposition to left-wing President Hugo Chavez.

Police said the operation had nothing to do with opposition to Chavez

More than 30 officers carrying automatic rifles had rushed to the square after masked gunmen reportedly opened fire from at least two speeding vehicles.

General Danny Azuaje, a police liaison with the federal Interior Ministry, told Associated Press the agents fired as they arrested an arms trafficking suspect during a pursuit that reached the plaza.

General Azuaje said the man, whose name was not released, was in custody at police headquarters but that the operation had nothing to do with government opponents at the plaza.

Leopoldo Lopez, mayor of the district where Altamira Square is located, told Reuters: "They took away one person and there is another person injured."

The man was shot in the hand.

Mr Lopez, a political opponent of Mr Chavez, said local police confronted the federal officers who were trying to forcibly detain two men.

Caracas has several police forces controlled by district mayors who either back or bitterly oppose the Chavez government and rival security patrols have clashed before in the capital.

Early on Friday, a suspected bomb was thrown into the presidential guard barracks alongside Miraflores palace in downtown Caracas.

The blast caused damage but no injuries.