President ‘tries to kill opponent’

Zambia’s opposition leader, Hakainde Hichilema, has accused the country’s president, Edgar Lungu, of trying to kill him. Hichilema, 56, warned that the international community’s failure to act on state-sponsored violence in Zimbabwe is encouraging other African regimes to crack down on opponents. The opposition leader said he was holding a rally on Saturday in Sesheke, southwest Zambia, when police and activists from the ruling Patriotic Front opened fire. ‘‘It was clearly an assassination attempt on me,’’ said Hichilema, who leads the United Party for National Development. He accused Lungu, who has been in power for four years, of being ‘‘ruthless’’.