Bangla2000 | International News - Speight: Shaving off the head of Fiji politics

Former hostage Akanisi Koroitamana, a member of the Fijian parliament, second left, speaks to an unidentified Red Cross member as she arrives for a medical check up after being released Sunday June 25, 2000 in Suva, the capital of Fiji. Four women hostages out of a total of 31 hostages were released by coup leader George Speight in the early hours of Sunday morning for humanitarian reasons. (AP Photo/Edward Wray)

SUVA, Fiji (AP) - Gunmen holding Fiji's deposed government at gunpoint released four female captives Sunday, but gave no commitment on when they would free the remaining 27 hostages.

The four women, including three ministers, left the parliamentary complex where 31 hostages have been held for the past 37 days at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday (1430 GMT Saturday), officials said.

Under heavy police escort, they were taken first to see family members, then to see a team of trauma specialists who gave them medical checkups and counseling, officials said.

John Scott, head of the Fiji Red Cross, said he had spoken with two of the women and that they sounded "pretty cheerful."

"I'm thankful to the lord for making this day possible," said Lavenia Wainiqolo Padarath, one of the freed hostages, outside a church service she attended Sunday with her family. "That's what we

Fijians are all about. We come to church, we pray and we forgive ... We forgive those who have made us captives."

Asked how it felt to see her family again, Padarath, the deposed minister for women, culture and social welfare minister, replied: "Wonderful - it's all I live for."

Another released hostage, Akanisi Koroitamana, said they had learned to "take each day as it comes" after five weeks in captivity.

Radio Fiji quoted rebel spokesman Jo Nata as saying the rebels released the four as a goodwill gesture. Fiji's schools are about to open again after being closed during the first weeks of the government crisis, and the rebels wanted the women - some of them mothers - to be back with their children, the station quoted Nata as saying.

But rebel leader George Speight played down the suggestion, saying "as for the goodwill side of it, let people interpret what they want to interpret."

Among the released hostages was Adi Koila Mara, a Cabinet minister in the government of ousted Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry, and the daughter of former President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara. Of the two other women released, one was a minister and the other a lawmaker outside Cabinet.

Twenty-seven other former lawmakers, including Chaudhry, remained captive inside Fiji's parliament, where they have been held since May 19, when rebels led by Speight stormed the parliament compound.

Chaudhry was the first ethnic Indian prime minister of this Pacific island nation, and the ethnic Fijian rebels say they staged their coup because the government was trampling on the rights of the indigenous majority.

In the wake of the coup attempt, some indigenous Fijians launched attacks on ethnic Indians, looting homes and businesses. Fiji's military took over and declared martial law 10 days after Speight's raid.

Military leaders have been negotiating with the rebels, trying to agree on details of an interim civilian government that would presumably lead Fiji to new elections within two years.

On Friday, the sides announced they had reached an accord, but the deal collapsed Saturday, with the rebels fearing the loss of their leverage to enforce their demands.

Military spokesman Lt. Col Filipo Tarakinikini described the women's release as a "positive step for the humanitarian side." He also said it was a chance taken "to show goodwill on their part because of the hitch in negotiations yesterday."

He confirmed that Speight was refusing to release the other hostages until he was sure all his demands would be met.

"Without the hostages no one will talk to them," Tarakinikini said. "The only thing that will ensure that they can bridge the gap from where they are to the implementation of their aspirations is to hold onto the hostages until they feel secure."

Ilisoni Ligairi, Speight's senior military adviser, said late Saturday, said the rebels wanted to ensure that they had influence in the new government.

"They're trying to make us release the hostages before we know whether we got our demands or not," he said late Saturday. "The hostages are all we have."

The failure to sign the accord had dashed the hopes of the hostages' relatives, who have been waiting more than a month for their loved ones to come home.

They were again on an emotional roller-coaster after Sunday's surprise move, which came ahead of further talks between the military and the rebels planned for later Sunday.

The standoff has pitted Fiji's poor indigenous majority against its relatively affluent Indian minority, sent the economy into a tailspin and raised concern that the South Pacific nation has descended into racism and intolerance.

The military already has promised Speight the removal of Chaudhry's government and changes in the constitution to strip Indians of the political power they shared with the Fijian majority.

Sugar, the nation's cash crop, is at the core of Fiji's troubles. Indian farmers built the industry by operating plantations on land that is communally owned by indigenous Fijians and leased at low

Those leases are due to be renewed, and the refusal by Chaudhry's government to accept demands for higher rents on the land enraged many Fijians.

Many Fijians of Indian descent, who make up about 44 percent of the islands' 812,000 people, are fleeing the country.

Because of the country's break with democracy, Australia, New Zealand and the United States have threatened economic sanctions.

The refusal by Australian trade unions to handle cargo to and from Fiji has paralyzed much of the country's exports.