Ugandan police clash with opposition supporters ahead of elections

Ugandan police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to break up a crowd of opposition supporters and briefly arrested a leading opposition candidate on Monday, raising tensions ahead of presidential elections widely seen as close.

Ambulances carried the injured after police used force to break up supporters of presidential candidate Kizza Besigye near Uganda's Makerere University in the capital Kampala.

Besigye defied orders to follow a less crowded route to the university, where he had planned to hold a rally so police fired tear gas and shotguns to quell a crowd of his supporters, said police spokesman Fred Enanga.

"He is defiant. We are not going to arrest him. We are not going to detain him. We know this is what he wants. We will just tow his vehicle and drive him home," Enanga said of Besigye.

Recent opinion polls show President Yoweri Museveni in a tight race with Besigye, who is promising to run a more efficient government. Elections are scheduled for Thursday.

Besigye is a former government official who broke ranks with Museveni 15 years ago, saying Museveni was no longer a democrat. He now openly describes Museveni as a dictator.

Ahead of elections, there has been a substantial rise in the number of police deployed around Kampala, seen as an opposition stronghold. Museveni has threatened to "smash" those who threaten national security.

Critics and opposition activists are concerned the military will be used to intimidate opposition supporters during and after the elections.

Uganda has not had a peaceful transfer of power since the country's independence from Britain in 1962. Museveni himself took power by force in 1986.

The Associated Press