(Releads with appeal for calm by political, religious leaders) By Ahmad Pathoni DILI, April 6 (Reuters) - East Timor's political and religious leaders appealed on Friday for calm after supporters of candidates contesting next week's presidential elections clashed during campaigning, sparking fears of further electoral unrest. President Xanana Gusmao, interim Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta and Dili Bishop Alberto Ricardo da Silva urged voters to exercise their democratic right peacefully and called on political leaders to restrain their supporters. "On April 9 we all should vote in a democratic atmosphere. To all candidates and citizens I appeal to you to accept whatever the results gracefully," Gusmao told a joint news conference. Supporters of rival candidates clashed during campaigning this week, injuring more than 30 people and prompting international troops to fire tear gas and warning shots. The violence has heightened fears the impoverished country of one million people, whose secession from Indonesian rule in 1999 triggered widespread violence by pro-Jakarta militias, could again descend into chaos. Just over half a million voters will pick the new president in Monday's election that outgoing President Gusmao says is a chance to demonstrate his young nation is not a failed state. "This election is very important in the context of the crisis, that we are not a failed state," Gusmao, a charismatic independence hero, said this week. Eight candidates are running, including interim Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta, a Nobel peace prize winner who spearheaded an overseas campaign for his country's independence from Indonesia in 2002. If no one wins more than half of the vote, a run-off will be held. Gusmao, an ally of Ramos-Horta, is not running for re-election but plans to seek the more powerful post of prime minister in separate parliamentary elections later this year. TROOPS TO PATROL Around 3,000 international troops and police will go on patrol to safeguard the elections, the forces' commander Mal Rerden said, while about 200 international observers are monitoring the voting. Some of the 700 polling stations are so remote the ballot papers will be delivered on horses. "East Timorese hope that this election will put an end to the crisis that has divided the nation and whoever wins will be accepted by the people," Julio Thomas, a political analyst from the National University of Timor Leste, told Reuters. Pro-Jakarta militiamen went on a violent rampage following a 1999 vote for independence, killing about 1,000 people and destroying much of the territory's infrastructure. East Timor again descended into chaos last May after the government sacked 600 rebellious soldiers. More than 30 people were killed and 100,000 fled their homes, until the government asked foreign troops to quell the unrest. Gusmao has blamed this week's clashes on the Fretilin Party of ousted Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, accusing its leaders of allowing supporters to provoke violence. Fretilin's candidate, Francisco Guterres, is a front-runner in the elections. The party, which led resistance against Indonesian rule, is popular among East Timorese despite accusations of Alkatiri's involvement in last year's violence, which cost him the premiership. Fretilin denied the accusations on Friday, saying its supporters had been victims. "How could we be accused of provoking when those injured were mostly Fretilin members," Arsenio Bano, a member of the party's central board, told Reuters. Bano criticised Gusmao for taking part in a campaign rally for Ramos-Horta on Wednesday. "It is very regrettable that President Xanana took part in the campaign of one candidate. He is the president of the whole nation and he must not publicly express favour for any candidate," Bano said.
