TAIWAN?S opposition, narrowly defeated in presidential elections after an assassination attempt on President Chen Shuibian won a strong sympathy vote, demanded yesterday an independent investigation into the shooting.

?Why don?t we trust the government? Because there are too many things under a cloud of suspicion?, opposition Nationalist Party Chairman Lien Chan told some 20 000 supporters demonstrating in front of the presidential office.

?The March 20 presidential election was an unfair election?, Lien, who lost the vote by just 0.2 percent, told the cheering crowd. Amid suspicions in the opposition Nationalist camp that the shooting was staged, Lien demanded independent committees of local and foreign experts investigate the ballistics and the president?s medical treatment.

Lien, who has filed a lawsuit demanding a recount that could nullify the election, asked for the establishment of a special committee of local dignitaries to monitor the vote counting. ?I hope that the government will give us a quick answer out of concern for people?, he said. ?I don?t want to spend the night here.?

Chen was gashed across the abdomen by a bullet when at least one unidentified assailant opened fire while he was campaigning from the back of an open-top jeep on Friday. Analysts have said a sympathy vote after the assassination attempt was a major factor in his victory since opinion polls had shown him trailing the opposition by seven to eight points.

A spokesman for Chen called a news conference to try to clear up doubts that have sparked a flurry of conspiracy theories island-wide. ?If the bullet had shifted by even an inch, it would have damaged vital organs. A play for sympathy would have been playing games with the president?s life?, Presidential Office spokesman James Huang told a news conference.

?Since the jeep was moving, how do we find a master marksman to fire a shot but only wound the president??, Huang said. Chen?s medical team also published photographs of doctors cleaning Chen?s wound as he spoke to staff on a mobile phone in a bid to quell suspicions that Chen had not been wounded at all.

Television footage showed Chen waving from his jeep as a bloodstain seeped across the front of his jacket and he gradually realised that he had been shot, fired amid a barrage of exploding firecrackers.

Nationalist Party lawyers have asked prosecutors to impound evidence such as the campaign jeep, bullets and casings found by the police and the president?s clothing. Police said they believed two assailants were involved and authorities offered a T$13 million ($390 000) reward for information leading to their capture. No one has been arrested.