The opposition Patriotic Front said Saturday it would ask a Zambian court for a recount in the presidential race, after the ruling party edged into a razor-thin lead.

Acting President Rupiah Banda pushed into the lead with a slim margin of 39.95 percent over opposition leader Michael Sata at 38.46 percent, with all but two constituencies still to be called.

`We want to ask for a recount,` said Willie Nsanda, the Patriotic Front (PF) elections chairman.

`The next thing is to go back inside those boxes and see if what they are counting is what people put inside.`

The party has already dismissed the results and asked election officials to stop releasing the vote count until its claims of election rigging were investigated.

The African Union and the 15-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) have brushed aside claims of fraud, saying their observers declared the vote free and fair.

The winning candidate will lead the country until 2011 after the death of former president Levy Mwanawasa in August.