TAIPEI - TAIWAN'S former president Chen Shui-bian on Thursday urged authorities to reopen a probe into his 2004 shooting that opponents claimed was staged to boost his electoral hopes.

'Chen is most concerned to learn the truth of the shooting... He urges the Kuomintang (KMT) government to reopen the investigation to prove his innocence,' his spokesman Liu Tao told reporters.

Mr Liu was speaking after visiting the ex-leader in a detention centre outside Taipei, where he has been locked up pending trial on corruption charges.

The call came five years to the day that Chen, then seeking re-election in a tight race against KMT opponent Lien Chan, was slightly wounded less than 24 hours before Taiwan went to polls.

He went on to win the vote by a razor-thin 0.22 per cent margin, with the KMT accusing him of having staged the shooting to garner voters' sympathy - a charge he flatly rejected.

The disputed election plunged the island into turmoil for many months, with the opposition leading mass street rallies demanding Chen's resignation and initiating several failed recall motions in parliament.

Police in 2005 concluded that a jobless man had shot Chen out of frustration with his government and had later committed suicide because of remorse.

However, the drama took a new twist in 2006 when the alleged gunman's widow - who previously confessed her husband's role in the shooting - claimed that she had been coerced by police and demanded a fresh probe.

Chen, who left office in May, is currently facing charges of embezzlement, taking bribes, money laundering, influence peddling and extortion. He faces life in prison if convicted.

The former president, whose pro-independence policies in office often irked Beijing, rejects the charges and accuses the China-friendly KMT government of leading a witch hunt against him. -- AFP