21.   But authorities denied that claim, insisting the guard only fired his weapon after the inmate refused to be searched and then pulled a knife on the guard.

22.   The standoff began Tuesday morning when loyalist inmates refused to cooperate in a tightened security regime of regular searches and head-counts.

23.   Prison sources said trouble started when the inmates refused to return to their cells after dinner.

24.   The inmates were refusing to deal with prison authorities and were demanding to be addressed by Mzimela, he added.

25.   The inmates have refused to settle the stand-off without meeting Home Minister Rafiqul Islam, sources told AFP earlier.

26.   The inmates refused.