A lawyer for the former Zambian president, Kenneth Kaunda, says his client has been formally charged with involvement in an attempted military coup last October.

The state contends that the alleged coup leaders had agreed to rule the country for three months and then hand over power to Mr Kaunda.

The former president has been detained since he was taken into custody on Christmas Day under emergency laws. He was initially held in prison and later kept under house arrest.

Junior officers staged a coup in October 1997

President Chiluba imposed the emergency after the failed coup bid by junior officers, which took place while Mr Kaunda was out of the country.

Earlier this week he went to court to challenge his detention, saying he should either be charged or set free.

There he was reminded that he had detained about 1,000 people without trail during his 27 years in power.

Mr Kaunda was defeated in elections in 1991, after which he handed over power peacefully to his successor, Frederick Chiluba.

He maintains that his detention is a personal vendetta by President Chiluba, rather than a result of suspicions that he was linked to the abortive coup.

Mr Kaunda's lawyer said he will continue to challenge the charges.
 

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