Opponents of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez celebrated a victory in their presidential recall campaign after the Supreme Court ruled signatures on petitions seeking a vote were valid unless citizens disclaim them.

　　Hundreds took the Caracas streets on Monday evening after the court ordered the National Elections Council to reverse its decision rejecting hundreds of thousands of signatures and requiring more than 1 million others to come forward to confirm they signed.

　　"I'm here to celebrate," said Altagracia Perez, a 27-year-old opposition supporter among the hundreds dancing on the streets.

　　Perez, however, warned that Chavez could still try other tactics to derail a possible recall vote.

　　"The government is going to try to use trickery to try to change the ruling," Perez added.

　　Chavez's government immediately appealed Monday's court decision, said Freddy Bernal, a key member of the president's ruling party. Party leaders urged government supporters to gather outside the Supreme Court yesterday to demand that the constitutional chamber overturn the decision.

　　Two weeks ago, rioting over the election council's decision left at least nine people dead and scores of others injured.

　　Opposition leaders, who accuse Chavez of becoming increasingly autocratic, needed 2.4 million signatures to force a recall. They submitted more than 3 million signatures in December following a petition drive.

　　The elections council decided two weeks ago that only 1.8 million of the signatures were valid, rejecting almost 400,000 outright and ordering 1.1 million citizens to confirm that they signed - more than 870,000 of them because they allegedly violated procedural rules when completing petition forms.

　　The Supreme Court ruled the 870,000 signatures should be deemed valid unless citizens come forward to disclaim them. If the citizens don't come forward, opponents would have 2.7 million signatures - enough to hold a vote.

　　(The Associated Press)