Former Malawi president arrested at airport

Malawi's former president Bakili Muluzi, who ruled between 1994 and 2004, was arrested on Sunday at the country's main airport as he arrived home from a holiday in Britain, his lawyer said.

The former president, who wrested power from dictator Kamuzu Banda in the country's first democratic elections, has been linked to a coup plot which was allegedly being hatched by his party and former army figures.

Confirming the incident, his lawyer Fahad Assani told AFP: "We don't know why. I have not seen the warrant of arrest."

Assani said Muluzi, who had been on an Air Malawi flight, was arrested by police and then flown in a military plane to an undisclosed destination.

Former army chief of staff Joseph Chimbayo and ex-police commander Joseph Aironi were among a group of eight people arrested last week after President Bingu wa Mutharika voiced fears of a plot to topple him.

They have all been charged with treason and conspiracy to murder and have been released on bail.

Mutharika had said in a speech a day before the arrests that he had received intelligence that Muluzi, his chief opponent in elections next year, was "planning to remove me through Section 65".

The president was referring to a controversial constitutional clause which has sparked heated debate in the southern African nation as it allows the speaker of parliament to sack lawmakers who have changed political allegiance.

Mutharika's minority government poached most of its MPs from the opposition and the opposition is now trying to pressure the speaker to sack the lawmakers and thus force the president out of office.

Muluzi ruled impoverished Malawi from 1994 to 2004 before handing over power to Mutharika.