Zambia rebuts reports of defence minister's arrest

Zambian authorities have rubbished some media reports that police have been instructed from the country's interim leader to arrest the defence minister.

Some local media reported that interim leader Guy Scott instructed the police to arrest Defence Minister Edgar Lungu shortly after he was dismissed as the head of the governing Patriotic Front (PF) Monday.

The sacking, which was rescinded Tuesday following a backlash and pockets of violence in some parts of the country, caused a rift within the governing party with ministers and senior party officials holding a crisis meeting Tuesday.

Police did not receive any instructions to arrest Lungu, who is also justice minister, Xinhua quoted Zambia police's acting spokesperson as saying.

"We would like to state that the reports are not true and that we had and still have no intentions of arresting Honorable Lungu. We would also want to state that at no point did the police command receive any order from acting President Guy Scott to have honorable Lungu arrested," she said.

The police, she said, were currently preoccupied with maintaining law and order as the country mourns President Michael Sata who died last Tuesday.

Scott was appointed acting president following the death of Sata and the country is expected to hold a presidential election within 90 days. However, he is constitutionally barred from running for president because his parents were born abroad, in Scotland.