LILONGWE, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Malawi Vice President Cassim Chilumpha on Monday pleaded not guilty to charges of treason and conspiracy to assassinate President Bingu wa Mutharika, as questions arose about the integrity of prosecution witnesses.

Chilumpha, who has been free on bail since last year, was arrested last April with 10 others for allegedly hiring men to kill wa Mutharika, who won the presidency in 2004 as the United Democratic Front candidate but later left to form his own party.

Prosecutors later dropped charges for the 10 co-accused and put Chilumpha under house arrest until early this year when his bail conditions were adjusted to allow him to resume his duties as vice president.

Chilumpha, a leading member of the UDF, entered his plea at the High Court in Blantyre.

"He pleaded not guilty to the charges because he has not done anything. We know that this assassination nonsense has been a cook-up from the start," lawyer Viva Nyimba told Reuters in a telephone interview.

An alleged accomplice in the plot also pleaded not guilty, lawyers said.

State prosecutors were then granted an adjournment for more time to discuss the case with their witnesses, the men Chilumpha allegedly hired to assassinate wa Mutharika last year.

Chilumpha's lawyers raised questions about the witnesses after local media reported they were being paid for their testimony.

The Dispatch, a local independent newspaper, last week printed what it said was an agreement signed between the government and one of the alleged assassins who is being paid $2,000 per month and has had his family relocated in South Africa.

South Africa's Sunday Times newspaper also printed the names of the alleged assassins and managed to talk to one of them.

"This revelation that government paid witnesses has changed the whole case, that's why government has asked for an adjournment to revaluate the case," Nyimba said.

The state's lawyers declined to comment.

Wa Mutharika and Chilumpha have been at daggers drawn since last year amid a deepening row between the president and his former UDF party allies.

Wa Mutharika tried to sack Chilumpha as his deputy for insubordination but the courts stopped him, saying he had no constitutional power to do so.

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