La Paz  - Federal troops Tuesday arrested Leopoldo Fernandez, the governor of a province seeking more autonomy, on charges of genocide in connection with at least 15 deaths during clashes last week over the country's wealth and resources.

The arrest follows the declaration of martial law in the northern Bolivian province of Pando by the government of President Evo Morales, the country's first indigenous president. Troops have taken control of the provincial capital Cobija in response to an outbreak of violence in the region.

Morales, the leftist populist leader of the Andean nation, is engaged in a bitter struggle with five of the country's wealthier provinces to redistribute wealth to help the country's impoverished Indos.

He told reporters at a news conference that "proceedings are starting against the governor for genocide."

"The arrest follows a legal and constitutional action. The Armed Forces are abiding by the constitution," Morales said at the presidential palace in La Paz.

"We salute the public prosecution, finally they are trying to enforce respct for life and for the nation's assets. Hopefully theu can keep going. This arrest is in accordance with the declaration of martial law," Morales explained.

Fernandez, 56, a prominent figure in the opposition to Morales, has been accused by the president of having caused a "massacre" Thursday in the village of Porvenir,
1,200 kilometres north of La Paz.

In the clashes, a convoy of peasants and students from a rural school were ambushed by allegedly hired killers from Brazil, Peru and Bolivia, the Bolivian Interior Ministry has said.

At least 15 people were killed in the clashes, more than 30 were injured and some 100 remained missing, possibly because they fled the scene seeking safety, the authorities said. (dpa)