Kampala, Uganda, 16/11 - At least one man has been killed as Ugandan anti-riot police and military battle supporters of opposition leader Kizza Besigye, who was Tuesday refused bail by a Kampala Magistrate`s court in his treason and rape trial.

Magistrate Margaret Tibulya rejected the defence lawyers` request for bail for Besigye, who returned from a four-year exile in South Africa last month.

She advised the defence team to apply for bail to the High Court.

Lead defence lawyer John Matovu told journalists outside court Besigye would appear before the High Court Wednesday, and the team was confident he would be granted bail: "It is not only his right but there is ground for him to be bailed."

Besigye was charged with treason along with 22 rebel suspects. They risk the death penalty if convicted.

The courthouse was packed with people, including several diplomats who have expressed concern over his arrest.

The rape charge dates from an alleged incident in 1997, involving the daughter of Besigye`s friend.

Police chief Kale Kayihura dismissed claims by opposition groups that the charges were designed to stop Besigye from contesting the March 2006 presidential elections against President Yoweri Museveni, saying: "this has nothing to do with partisan politics."

He said allegations linking Besigye with the rebel Lord`s Resistance Army (LRA) came from ex-rebels, who said the opposition leader had sought an alliance to topple Museveni`s government.

Besigye contested the 2001 presidential poll and later fled Uganda to South Africa, alleging threat to this life.

Following his arrest Monday, thousands of his supporters stormed the streets burning and looting government property.

As police and soldiers battled the protesters one man was shot dead, while allegedly trying to steal goods from a shop, according to the police.

A number of people were injured in the violence while scores of protesters have been arrested by the police as the unrest spreads across the country.

Geoffrey Ekanya, an MP for Besigye`s Forum for Democratic Change, who called Museveni a "dictator," said the international community should put pressure on the Ugandan government to end the crackdown on the opposition.

Besigye`s wife Winnie Byanyima, a former MP dismissed the charges against her husband as "laughable."

"I demand that he be released unconditionally and immediately. The government would be responsible for anything that happens to him," she warned.

Meanwhile, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged Ugandan courts to grant Besigye bail to show that his arrest "is not politically motivated."

"If the government denies him bail, it will reinforce the perception that it has pressed capital charges against him to prevent him from campaigning for president," declared HRW Uganda researcher, Jemera Rone.