Taiwan's Chen 'shooting' mystery

Was former Taiwanese president Chen Shui-bian shot?

New suspicions have been raised about the apparent attempted assassination of the former Taiwanese president in 2004.

Investigators who re-examined the eve-of-election shooting of Chen Shui-bian found no blood or bullet holes in his underwear or trousers.

At the time it was claimed Mr Chen had been shot and wounded in the lower part of his abdomen.

He went on to win the election by a fraction of a percentage point but is now serving life for corruption.

The new probe was ordered by the ruling Nationalist Party (KMT), which fielded the candidate who lost to Mr Chen.

The party accuses the former president of staging the shooting in an attempt to win public support, a charge he denies.

Wu Feng-Shan, the investigator who compiled the new report, concluded there were many suspicious aspects to the affair, in addition to the lack of blood stains.

Police ended their initial investigation in 2005 naming a jobless man - who apparently committed suicide 10 days after the shooting - as the only suspect.

But in 2006 the alleged gunman's widow demanded a new probe, claiming that she had been coerced by police into falsely confessing her husband's role in the incident.

The new report says the way the suspect's body was found - entangled in nets on an oyster farm - was not consistent with suicide.

The disputed election plunged Taiwan into months of turmoil and street protests against Mr Chen.

He left office last year and is appealing against a life sentence on charges of embezzlement, taking bribes and extortion.