Demonstrators hurled rocks and gasoline bombs at soldiers as protests intensified Tuesday night after Venezuela's national elections council announced its decision. The rioting subsided Wednesday morning after opposition leaders called for peaceful demonstrations. Four days of protests left at least six people dead and dozens wounded, Caracas fire chief Rodolfo Briceno said.

Opponents of President Hugo Chavez say they submitted more than 3.4 million signatures. Some 2.4 million are needed for a recall election.

But council president Francisco Carrasquero announced Tuesday that just 1.83 million signatures were deemed valid. Another 1.11 million signatures may be valid if citizens confirm they signed, Carrasquero said.

The decision triggered demonstrations by citizens banging pots and pans and exploding fireworks throughout the capital, Caracas, where thousands took to the streets.

Rioting - which began earlier Tuesday as the opposition anticipated the ruling - also was reported in several of Venezuela's most important cities in the hours after the council's decision.

National guard troops in armoured personnel carriers rolled through several cities as demonstrators burned tires and threw rocks and gasoline bombs at soldiers. Sporadic gunfire was heard for a second straight night in Caracas.

The local Globovision television channel broadcast footage of several vehicles burning in a parking lot in Caracas' Los Ruices district, where troops fired rubber bullets at protesters who fought back with Molotov cocktails and threw rocks.

Globovision reported that protests continued in the eastern city of Puerto La Cruz with troops firing rubber bullets at protesters.

Opposition leaders said they would not accept a decision requiring voters to confirm their signatures, alleging the measure was not included in rules established for the verification process. They begged the Organization of American States and the U.S.-based Carter Centre to take their side - and urged citizens to keep protesting.

"After the robbery of more than one million signatures, we urge people to keep protesting peacefully," said opposition politician Antonio Ledezma.

Council director Jorge Rodriguez said voters would have only two days to report to voting centres to confirm they signed - changing an earlier decision to give citizens five days. He also said the council had not set a date for the process because it was still open to negotiating details with the opposition.

Venezuela's opposition claims that such a monumental task, involving hundreds of thousands of citizens, would postpone the referendum or derail it entirely.

Chavez's foes have been blocking traffic throughout Caracas since Friday to protest what they view as a government plot to derail the referendum - their last chance of legally ousting Chavez before the next elections in 2006.

Chavez's foes say the populist former paratrooper has mismanaged the country and become increasingly autocratic, while his supporters accuse the opposition of trying to mount a coup.

Venezuelans had been waiting since Sunday for the council to release its findings.

Prodded by the OAS and Carter Centre, the government and the opposition agreed in May on ground rules for an eventual recall referendum.

The petitions were delivered in December. But electoral authorities continue to delay an announcement on whether the recall effort can go ahead.

If Chavez, who was re-elected to a six-year term in 2000, loses in a referendum held before mid-August, the midway point for his term, new presidential elections must be held. But if he loses in a vote held after mid-August, Vice-President Jose Vicente Rangel would take over for the rest of his term.

Opponents fear if that happens, Chavez would merely rule behind his right-hand man for the rest of his term.

The opposition charges the elections council belatedly changed the rules to disqualify hundreds of thousands of signatures. The council says observers were told not to allow voters to simply sign already filled-out forms. But thousands of signatures were delivered that way.

After Tuesday's decision, the OAS and Carter Centre - which have said they saw no evidence of fraud - insisted they would ensure everyone who signed for the referendum will have their signature count.