The Zambian High Court has granted former President Frederick Chiluba an interim order blocking his prosecution on corruption charges.

Mr Chiluba filed an application to the court to block any prosecution resulting from parliament's lifting of his immunity.

It is clear that Chiluba did not steal alone

Oasis Forum

He has also asked the court to nullify the parliamentary decision on the grounds that he was not given a chance to defend himself, according to his lawyer Robert Simeza.

In an attempt to calm tensions, President Levy Mwanawasa on Wednesday said that anyone caught up in the corruption drag net would be accorded a fair trial.

However, civil society groups continue to demand more action, pointing out that many of Mr Mwanawasa's cabinet ministers also served under Mr Chiluba.

"It is clear that Chiluba did not steal alone," a spokesman for the anti-corruption campaign group, the Oasis Forum, said on Wednesday.

Self-defence

High Court judge Anthony Nyangulu said that the interim order would halt any planned prosecution pending a judicial review of the MPs' decision, made last Thursday.

Reuters news agency reported the judge as saying that parliament could not lift Mr Chiluba's immunity from prosecution without knowing what offences he was alleged to have committed or without giving him a chance to speak in his own defence.

Kaunda applauds parliament's move

The lifting of the former president's immunity had been welcomed by Zambia's first President, Kenneth Kaunda.

Mr Kaunda told the BBC's Network Africa programme that if the allegations of corruption made against Mr Chiluba were true, he should be held accountable in court.

But Mr Kaunda dismissed as irrelevant Mr Chiluba's earlier suggestion that Mr Kaunda's immunity should also be lifted.

Mr Kaunda stepped down as president in 1991 after losing elections to Mr Chiluba.

Members of the Zambian parliament lifted Mr Chiluba's immunity on Tuesday after a short debate, while thousands of people demonstrated outside parliament to urge them to make a swift decision.

Allegations

Mr Chiluba was believed to be staying in his secure Lusaka residence on Tuesday, with feelings running high in the capital.

Last week, incumbent President Levy Mwanawasa asked a special session of parliament to lift Mr Chiluba's immunity from prosecution and outlined a series of corruption allegations against him and members of his government.

Mr Chiluba has denied the allegations of corruption against him, and said he was the victim of a witch-hunt.

MPs were under pressure to make a swift decision

Mr Mwanawasa was elected as president in December 2001 in a widely disputed election. His victory is being challenged by the opposition in the Supreme Court.

Since his election, he has made the fight against corruption a priority for his government.

This has had the effect of splitting the MMD into pro-Mwanawasa and pro-Chiluba camps.

The anti-corruption campaign has also led to the resignation of the foreign minister and the arrest of the Zambian ambassador to Washington.